


War Bonds (Year 1)

by ArcticMatter_77



Series: War Bonds [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Feels, Clone Wars, Clones, Death, Disillusionment, Emotional Confusion, F/M, Fluff, Force Bond (Star Wars), Jedi, Plot, Pre-Relationship, Relationship(s), Sacrifice, Slow Burn, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - Freeform, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) Spoilers, Violence, no betas we die like clones, rexsoka, this is long
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 09:53:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 25
Words: 80,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23849242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArcticMatter_77/pseuds/ArcticMatter_77
Summary: The Clone Wars bring a dark time to the galaxy. Treachery, death, fear, and pain are everywhere. No one knows this better than those who fight on the front lines of the conflict: the stoic Jedi and the valiant clone troopers. In the opening months of the conflict in the year 22BBY, territories are seized, strengths are tested, and new players appear on the field.This is Part 1, detailing events in the year 22BBY and drawing on material from the TV show, the comics, and the series of books by Karen Traviss and Karen Miller.
Relationships: Ahsoka Tano & Clone Troopers, CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex, CT-21-0408 | Echo & CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555, CT-7567 | Rex & Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Series: War Bonds [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1718581
Comments: 190
Kudos: 384





	1. The Long Run

**Crystal City, Christophsis**

Clone Captain Rex stared through his electrobinoculars at the forward observation team. One of the four troopers standing on the platform high above the partially destroyed city streets signaled toward him, indicating that the area was clear of hostiles for the moment and that no droids were amassing anywhere near them. The troops’ armor was dirtier than he’d ever seen it; a testament to just how tedious this campaign had been.

The relief, the blockade, the dug-in tinnies that had cost them the better part of two large units . . . the traitor. Slick. On the say-so of a wannabe Sith, he’d sold them out. He’d given the seppies intel on their initial plans, costing them the lives of more than twenty of their brothers. Then, to compound his betrayal, he’d rigged their entire vehicle department to blow. No AT-TEs, no LAAT/is, almost nothing was left. Just a handful of AT-RTs and, of course, their artillery pieces.

Artillery pieces that had become their crutch in this rapidly declining battle. If they pulled a victory out of this one, it’d be a kriffing miracle.

“It’s the Jedi who keep us enslaved,” Slick had shouted when Rex and Commander Cody had brought him before Generals Kenobi and Skywalker. “I love my brothers! You’re just too blind to see it.”

In the confines of his helmet, Rex seethed. Signaling an affirmative to the troopers conducting recon, he dropped the electrobinoculars. Slick didn’t know what he was talking about. Slaves? That was . . . absurd. They were soldiers. They had a duty. A duty to protect innocent people being killed by evil beings and the mechanized soldiers they’d created to do their bidding. To Rex, there wasn’t anything more important than that. It was an honor to be a part of the GAR.

Behind him, he heard more than saw General Skywalker step onto the roof, which they’d turned into an observation post. There was . . . someone else with him, though.

“This isn’t a training exercise, youngling. The Seps use live rounds. They’re awkward that way.”

Rex glanced back and saw his young general towering over the Togruta girl who’d just showed up on one of their shuttles. Orange skin, white facial markings, white and blue striped montrals and lekku. The more often he looked at her, the less he could believe she was actually here. On purpose. She couldn’t be any older than thirteen. What was she doing on a _battlefield_?

“I know what I’m doing,” the little Togruta adjusted her belt, meeting the General’s very clearly annoyed gaze. “Why don’t you send a couple of squads to infiltrate the –”

“Skyline yourself like that again and you’ll get your head shot off, Jedi or not.”

Rex’s eyes darted all over her. Lightsaber clipped to her belt, simple dress, beaded braid hanging off her lekku. It still didn’t make sense. General Skywalker had said – many, _many_ times – that he’d never had a Padawan. Rex angled his head towards the Sep lines. He didn’t really want to look at the pair. Things clearly weren’t off to a good start. Still, he _was_ a little curious.

“I thought you said you’d never have a Padawan, sir . . .”

“Someone must’ve fouled up the flimsy,” Skywalker said. Rex turned toward him. The General wore a permanent frown today. That was impressive; it was barely lunchtime. “I don’t have a Padawan. I _can’t_ have a Padawan. There’s normally at least some discussion about this kind of thing first.”

The Togruta . . . the Padawan . . . stepped in front of the General, hands on her hips. “I’m still here, Skyguy. Stop talking about me as if I’m not.”

Well, _that_ , took Rex by surprise. For the second time in as many minutes, his eyebrows shot up. Unable to help himself, he took off his helmet. “ _Skyguy_ ,” he said, laughing to himself. “Skyguy . . .”

General Skywalker’s face was something he would remember for a long time. Mouth half-open, eyebrows knitted so closely together that they looked like one straight line, eyes burning with irritation.

“What did you call me?” the General demanded, stepping forward. “Look, don’t get snippy with me, youngling. You’re not even old enough to be a Padawan.”

“I’m not a _youngling_ , I’m fourteen.”

So, Rex stood corrected. “I’m ten,” he said, keeping a straight face, “but I’m tall for my age.”

The two kept going, and Rex really had no choice but to watch them go at it. He wondered when he was going to be dragged into this. He had no doubt it would happen, but he didn’t know when.

“Anyway, Master Yoda thinks I’m old enough.”

“Master Yoda’s lightyears away, so it’s _me_ you’ve got to persuade,” Skywalker said. As if the General had read Rex’s mind, his gaze shifted to him. _Here we go_. “And seeing as I can’t ship you back to Coruscant yet, you might as well make yourself useful. Rex, give her an acquaint of the position. And don’t take any backchat from her.”

Rex clipped his helmet to his belt and grabbed his DC-15 rifle, checking the charge. All full. If he was going down to street-level, he’d better be prepared. Just in case. Not to mention the fact that he had a kid to look after now.

“Very good, sir,” he said. “Come on, youngling.” Rex started toward the stairwell. No power, so they were walking. He glanced back to make sure the girl was following him just in time to see her mouth move.

“Padawan.”

Touchy.

“And if Captain Rex gives you an order, you _take_ it, okay?”

“Yes, Skyguy.”

Rex felt like this was the start to a long day. Just inside the door leading to the stairs, one of his men, Ged, leaned against the wall. One hand absentmindedly rubbed at his shoulder. He’d taken a spray of droid parts to his upper body. A few had lodged themselves inside the gap between his shoulder pauldrons and his backplate. Poor kid might as well have been standing next to a shrapnel bomb.

Luckily for him, one of their medics, Coric, had been able to patch him up. He’d even been fit enough to participate in the last firefight less than an hour ago. He was luckier still that painkillers were one of the very few things that they were not in short supply of.

“Where’re you off to, sir?” The man’s helmet was on, so Rex couldn’t see Ged’s most likely raised eyebrow. “Thought the General wanted to talk strategy.”

“General Skywalker wanted me to show the kid around the position,” Rex explained, gesturing back at Skywalker’s new Padawan. He realized Ged hadn’t been around when she was dropped off. “Er, this is –”

“I’m Padawan Ahsoka Tano,” the Togruta said positioning herself between Rex and Ged. Rex stopped himself from rolling his eyes. She probably thought he’d been about to introduce her as ‘youngling’ again and couldn’t stop herself from correcting that mistake before it had been made.

Ged nodded at Ahsoka. “Good to meet you, ma’am,” he said, with all the model soldier bravado he could muster. His gaze returned to Rex. “Good luck, sir.”

His tone was full of knowing. And painkillers.

* * *

When Ahsoka had been sent down from Admiral Yularan’s fleet to meet her new master, she had not expected this.

She didn’t expect her master to not know she was _his_ Padawan. She didn’t expect to get sent to a master that clearly didn’t appreciate her or what she could do and just wanted to dismiss her just because of her age. She didn’t expect her new rank to be called into question every time she turned around. She certainly didn’t expect to be shown around their new camp by an overgrown ten-year-old.

The fact that their entire army was younger than her was a fact that had somehow eluded her in all her time at the Jedi Temple since the start of the war. She glanced up at the clone captain – Rex, her new master had called him. He had sharp features and tan skin. His eyes were brown, but light. Hazel, she decided. At first glance, she thought he was bald. Closer inspection, however, revealed that he had the thinnest layer of hair she’d ever seen on a human – or any other species for that matter. And it was dyed bleach-blond; there was just no _way_ that was natural.

And he was ten. Weird.

Speaking of being able to see his face . . .

“Shouldn’t you be wearing your helmet?” she asked.

He glanced at her. “I’ve got my comm earpiece,” he said, tapping it for emphasis. “And we’re monitoring for snipers.”

Ah. She cast around for something intelligent to say. Her gaze settled on the four huge gun emplacements the clones had set up. They looked pretty out-in-the-open to her.

“Have you thought about moving that line back?” she pointed. “They’d have better cover that way.”

“Thank you, but General Skywalker thinks they’re fine where they are.”

“But they need cover.”

“They also need range.”

So it would be like that. “What if I gave you an order to move the canons? You’re a captain, and I’m a Jedi, so technically I outrank you, right?”

“Technically, you’re only a youngling,” Captain Rex said, glancing at her.

“ _Padawan!_ ” What was with everyone questioning her position right now? This wasn’t anything like what she’d learned at the Temple. For half a second, she thought about giving the order anyway. Then, she realized it wouldn’t be a very Jedi thing to do.

“Look, littl’un –” _What?_ “– why don’t I explain how things are in the real world?”

Oh, no. He was not about to treat her like every other adult had in the last rotation. “I still think –”

Captain Rex stopped walking and rounded on her.

“Are you scared?”

“No!” she had a bad feeling this was a trick question, but she couldn’t imagine he wanted the truth. And she didn’t really want to tell him the truth, either.

“Well,” he continued, “you should be. Because if you’re not scared in a war, then you clearly haven’t grasped the severity of your situation.” The clone sat down on a hunk of what she thought might be permacrete. “I take my orders from General Skywalker. It’s called the chain of command, and it _matters_ , because we all have to be clear who’s in charge, or else we’ll all be running around like nuna. And you take your orders from him, too, because you’re his Padawan. With me so far?”

She couldn’t have said why, but all the defiant fight went out of Ahsoka right then. Maybe it was because she didn’t have a smart response. Or because she couldn’t bring herself to snap at him because he was very clearly making an effort to speak to her on a level. Which was more than her new master had done. “Yes, _Captain_.”

“Want to learn the most important things about being a soldier?” Rex asked, even smirking a little. “I mean the things they don’t teach you at the Temple.”

That pulled her up short. “How would _you_ know what they teach Jedi?”

“By watching _you_ . . .”

Oh. “Okay . . . Experience matters.”

“One, _orders_. You follow orders. They keep you alive. Two, you’re part of a _team_. We look out for our buddies – I cover your back, you cover mine. And three, an officer rank doesn’t give you automatic respect. You _earn_ it. It’s not just Skywalker’s rank that makes us give him one hundred percent. It’s because he treats _us_ with respect, and he puts himself on the line with us.”

Okay. Follow orders, cover people’s backs, and risk herself along with her troops. She could do that. “That makes sense,” she admitted.

“So . . . are you scared?”

She might as well come clean after all that. “Yes. Are you?”

“You bet.”

Wait, really? “But you’re all bred to be fearless.”

The clone laughed. “All the same, eh?”

“Well . . . you _are_ clones.”

The Captain set his helmet on his knee. “Like Togrutas. You’re all pretty much the same, too.”

“What?”

“Take a look at the species database we’re given. It says so.” Rex put a hand inside his helmet. “Come on – check your 'pad.”

Ahsoka grabbed her datapad from of her belt. What was he talking about? There was no real way that he could be right. The screen flickered to life and she quickly read the file that Captain Rex had sent her. Her brow furrowed.

“Well, that’s just _not true_.” She read the blurb out loud. “. . . well, that’s not fair. I’m not like that at all.”

She looked up. The clone was _smiling_. Ahsoka gave him a nod.

“Do we have an understanding, Padawan?”

“Yes, Captain.” She gave him her most genuine smile. She saw one of his eyebrows rise a fraction. What? Was it the fangs?

“Good. Come on, let’s walk the perimeter.” The clone captain stood and waved her onward. The two began walking again. “At least we don’t have to worry about civilians. That’s the worst thing when you’re fighting in an urban area – the risk of civvy casualties. That limits our attack. The tinnies don’t have any feelings about killing noncombatants, of course, and they just keep shilling, so we’re handicapped by our rules of engagement.”

Ahsoka gave a little shiver. Killing civilians? Just because? Maybe not _everything_ she’d heard at the Temple was wrong.

Movement caught her eye. Out of habit, her head snapped around. It was a rodent. She wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but it was warm, alive, and edible. She followed it as is scurried about, keeping well away from anything moving.

“Please, not lunch . . .” she heard Captain Rex mutter. “At least, not while I’m looking.”

Ahsoka laughed. She was a little surprised that he sounded squeamish. It definitely wasn’t something she expected from a clone trooper. “No, rodents give me gas,” she said. Her eyes left the rodent and settled on the horizon. She stopped. “What’s that?”

The Captain stopped dead. “That’s going to make things damned near impossible.”

Ahsoka stared at the strange, orange-tinted sphere that she saw further down the city. She felt her stomach twisting. “You didn’t answer, Rex – _what is it?_ ”

“It’s an energy field,” he said, circling around to head back in the direction they came. “There goes our edge. Canon won’t penetrate that. And we don’t have the numbers to keep the droids pinned down. Come on, back to base.”

“But you’ve got a plan, right?”

“We’ve always got a plan,” Rex said. “And another . . . and another. Just have to keep trying until we find one that works, and hope we don’t die before that.”

Ahsoka broke into a run as she tried to catch up to him. “Master Yoda might get support here in time,” she offered. They had only contacted the Jedi Master less than an hour ago, but she didn’t know exactly how bad a situation they were in quite yet. There was always a chance.

Rex paused and glanced behind them. “Well,” he sighed, “you need experience, littl’un. Here’s where you start getting it.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll watch your back,” she assured him.

“And I’ll watch yours.”

* * *

Rex kept his eye on Ahsoka as she scanned the holomap of the city before them. They'd made it back to base and were currently discussing what exactly they should do about their ever-expanding problem with Kenobi and Skywalker. She was quiet. Rex couldn't tell if that was a good thing - meaning that she was taking her time and considering every angle of approach - or a bad thing - meaning that he'd scared her too much for her to try and voice her opinion.

"Why don't we just take out their generator?" the kid asked, looking up at them all. "Or is it not that simple?"

"Correct," Skywalker told her, folding his arms. "It's _not_ that simple."

"Suicide mission," Rex said. "Not that I couldn't get plenty of volunteers from the ranks, but we'd probably waste a lot of men getting nowhere, and at least we know we stand a chance if we can pin down the tinnies inside buildings. They're not good at fighting house-to-house."

"I could do it," Ahsoka said. "Let me try, Skyguy."

_Oh no._

Rex had created a suicidal monster.

"You don't have to prove anything, littl'un," he said.

She didn't stop. "I can do it. I know I can. I'm small and I'm fast. And where better to use Jedi skills?"

"Very well," Kenobi said, looking resigned, "Anakin, take Ahsoka and penetrate the Sep lines." He pointed to the area before the canons on the holomap. "Rex and I can stage a diversion here, and that should make it easier for you to slip through."

"We need to defend the artillery position, sir," Rex pointed out, doing his best to return to the problem at hand. "But if we can't draw them into the buildings, they'll just roll right down the street into the square and take out our arty pieces, and there'll be very little we can do about it. And then it'll be endex for all of us."

“I can _do_ it," Ahsoka said, still staring at the holomap. She glanced at General Skywalker. " _We_ can do it.”

Stang. If they survived this, he’d need to have a chat with her about that.

If they survived _this_ , it’d be a miracle.

Kenobi didn't say anything more. Instead, he disengaged himself from the holomap and strolled over to clone Commander Cody. The two began some sort of discussion over tactics and the plan. Ahsoka began messing with the holomap - reading over the droid position, checking street lengths, and looking at different buildings. Skywalker walked a few paces away, ducking into the shelter of a mostly-intact doorway. He met Rex's eyes and jerked his head back, signaling for him to approach. _Oh, boy._ Rex complied, wondering if Skywalker was going to chastise him for the monster he'd created.

"Don't tell me you can do mind influence too, Rex," Skywalker quipped quietly. "But it's impressive, whatever it is."

Rex sighed. "Okay, I might have overdone the pep talk on how to be a good officer, sir."

"It worked."

Too well. "She's desperate to get it right," he said, guilty. "I'd hate to think I made her feel she has to do something suicidal to earn my respect."

"She's not a passenger, Rex," Skywalker said, clapping him on the shoulder. "If she can pull her weight, she has to. She's no less expendable than you or me in this war."

That wasn't technically true. It was clear to Rex that Jedi were a good bit less expendable than any clone, but he wasn't going to argue that with Skywalker right now. There wasn't time, and he knew better than that. "Okay, sir."

General Skywalker gave him what seemed to be a reassuring nod and walked out of the doorway, over towards the holoprojector. He caught Ahsoka by the shoulder. "If we survive this, Snips, you and I are going to have a nice long talk."

The General was going to have to get in line.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Long Run - Halo: Combat Evolved Soundtrack
> 
> Wasn't much room to play around with stuff, so I just added the little scene with Ged and switched the POV for each scene. Fear not, there will be more divergence and added scenes in the next chapter.


	2. Alma

**Aboard Cruiser _Spirit of the Republic_ , Christophsis**

****

“That sounds like a lot, even for a Jedi,” said Ridge.

“I heard you were surrounded by droids,” Hez put in. “How did you ever get the shield down?”

Rex really needed to have this “don’t-go-killing-yourself-to-prove-we-need-you-even-if-you’re-a-Jedi” conversation with Ahsoka, but his boys had swarmed her almost right after they had all boarded the ship. They all stood in the hanger, forming a semi-circle around the young Togruta. Ridge, Hez, Coric, Lunn, Ayar, Vaize, Ged, Attie, and Nax were all listening to Ahsoka’s tale of her first adventure with rapt attention. Even a couple of the softshell flight deck workers had stopped in. Rex watched from the sidelines, helmet under one arm just like the rest of them.

“Okay, okay,” Ahsoka said, hands outstretched in order to placate her captive audience. “So there’s a wall behind him, right? Well, I pull the wall down on top of the droids, destroying them, and saving the General.” She gestured animatedly as she told the story, headtails bobbing.

The troops around her burst out laughing.

“You _never_ , ma’am!” Vaize exclaimed. “That must’ve made the General’s day!”

Rex heard a sigh from beside him. He started a bit, then turned. General Skywalker himself was standing right there. He wondered for how long.

He gave a bit of a smirk himself. “That, er, true sir?” Rex couldn’t help asking.

“Well . . . most of it,” Skywalker said, the ghost of a smile passing over his lips. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

Rex shrugged. “Give her a moment to enjoy it, sir. It’s all part of winding down after you’ve been scared witless and survived to tell the tale. The boys know that. She did pretty well, you have to admit.”

Skywalker didn’t respond, but he swept closer to the circle of clones. Rex followed, sensing his present might be needed.

“Humility is a requirement for a Jedi,” the General said. There was no edge to his voice, but his words were chiding all the same.

The troopers had already snapped to attention. Ahsoka spun around, caught off guard. Rex was honestly surprised that she didn’t sense her new master sneaking up on her. Maybe she needed time to perfect that particular skill. Or, she was too busy basking in the adoration of the troops.

“I was –”

“Apologies, sir, but we asked questions. Padawan Tano was _debriefing_ , not bragging.” Good old Lunn. Hell, if Rex hadn’t been standing there watching the whole exchange, it would’ve been a good defense. It was even harder to buy given the way Ahsoka’s eyes darted towards him, flashing with a mixture of surprise and gratitude.

Rex felt it was time for him to earn his keep as the master of face-saving. He slapped his gloves together. “Come on, you lot,” he barked. “You haven’t got time to warm those crates with your backsides. What are you trying to do, hatch something? Get back to work.” The men dispersed. Rex saw Ridge was still snickering to himself. The kid was pretty new. For his sake, he hoped this wasn’t an event he brought up around the General later; he’d get a healthy dose of reality shoved up his shebs. Rex turned back around; he still needed to have his chat with the kid . . .

. . . But apparently the General got first dibs. Skywalker had pulled Ahsoka to the side, intending to have a chat of his own.

“I was just keeping up their morale,” Ahsoka was saying. “They need to know we take the same risks that they do. That we’ll sit down and talk to them, and know their names, instead of just snapping our fingers and calling them _clone_. Nobody likes being treated as if they don’t matter.”

Okay.

Should Rex be sticking around to listen to this? He wasn’t sure. This kid clearly said what was on her mind _all the time_. Without tact. She was probably the most unJedi-like Jedi he’d ever met. That didn’t make her wrong. The boys appreciated what she was doing. He probably would too, if she ended up growing on him. Rex slipped his helmet over his head.

“Well . . .” Skywalker continued, “they seem to like you. That’s good.”

“They’ve lost so many of their friends. Can’t you feel their pain?”

“They’re soldiers,” Skywalker said flatly. “It’s the job.”

“It’s yours, too, but _you_ hurt all the time.”

Okay.

It was time for Rex to remove himself from what was shaping up to be a _very_ personal conversation. Knowing the pair were watching him, Rex pretended to be engrossed in some data download or communique coming through to him through his helmet. He took a few slow steps away. This was definitely _not_ in his job description. Not only was he a master of face-saving, but tact as well. The Kaminoans and Mandalorians were both pretty big on manners and boundaries. For the most part. He’d been taught well.

He didn’t have to pretend long. Glancing back, he saw that Skywalker and his new Padawan were trotting over to meet Generals Kenobi and Yoda, who had materialized out of nowhere. Some sort of discussion was taking place, and Rex figured they were about to be sent off on another mission to some other far-flung corner of the galaxy. Without much rest or replenishment, of course.

That was just the 501st way, wasn’t it?

Rex drew closer and stopped beside Ahsoka, striking a parade rest pose.

“I’ll get the troops organized,” Ahsoka said, perking up. “Ready when you are, Master.”

“I’d better get under way,” General Kenobi said, one eyebrow raised. “Mustn’t keep Jabba waiting.”

Jabba?

The Hutt?

What in the stang did he have to do with their next assignment?

Before Rex could ask any questions, General Kenobi had bowed and turned away with General Yoda. Skywalker disappeared. Rex spied him heading off toward what seemed to be a machinery alcove. After some privacy, he supposed. For what, he wasn’t sure. Ahsoka spun around, braid swinging behind her.

“C’mon, Rexter,” she said, setting off at a smart pace. “Let’s get the boys squared away.”

Rex raised an eyebrow. Skyguy, Rexter, Artooie. The nicknames just kept on coming. “What exactly,” he said, “are we getting the boys squared away for?”

“Well,” she said, glancing back at him. “The Council wants us to go rescue Jabba the Hutt’s son. Something about us needing his permission to use his hyperspace lanes. We’re heading to some planet called Teth.”

“Teth,” Rex said. With a few blinks, he brought up some data on the planet. A jungle world. Outer Rim. _Very_ Outer Rim. “Lovely. Ya know, we need to have a chat, kid.”

Ahsoka’s step faltered. “About what?”

It was clear to Rex and every other organic with a brain that she was terrified she had messed up somehow. Crossed some line. Did something wrong.

“It’s nothing bad,” Rex assured her. “I’d just like to clarify a couple things after our last discussion.”

“Right . . .”

“Coric!”

The sergeant materialized next to Rex, helmet in hand.

“Sir!”

“We’re taking off for the planet Teth within the hour,” Rex told Coric. “Get Torrent Company in the loop. They need to be ready for combat. We’re apparently rescuing Jabba the Hutt’s son. I’ll check in with the General, but he’ll probably want everyone for a briefing in an hour or so.”

To Coric’s credit, his expression remained neutral. “Yes, sir. I’ll let the men know.”

He disappeared. Rex cast around, searching for Ahsoka. “Where the –”

She’d slipped off. Luckily for him, a short, orange-skinned Togurta girl was probably the least difficult thing to spot in a hanger full of tall human men in white armor. There she was: standing just outside the mechanical closet that Skywalker had taken refuge in. Mm. Maybe her Jedi powers weren’t sensitive enough to figure out when someone needed space. Rex marched across the docking bay, reaching the Padawan just as her Master emerged from the mechanical closet, a distant look in his eyes. Rex didn’t psychoanalyze; it wasn’t his specialty. You couldn’t learn everything on the HoloNet. The General spotted him approaching.

“What’s the situation, Rex?”

“Coric’s notified the men, sir,” Rex reported. “We’ll be ready whenever you want to hold a briefing.”

“Good.” Skywalker massaged his temple with his left hand. Rex knew his dominant hand, the right one, was mechanical. That couldn’t be comfortable. “I’m going to let Admiral Yularan know our destination. And then I’m going to meditate.”

Sure he was. Rex didn’t know what his General did when he was ‘meditating,’ but he’d bet it wasn’t meditating. It wasn’t his business to know. “Yes, sir.”

Skywalker trudged off. Ahsoka made to follow.

“Avoiding me, Littl’un?” Rex asked, training the piercing stare of his T-shaped visor on her. “I don’t bite. Unlike you, probably.”

She flinched, stopping dead in her tracks. “Okay.” Her voice was barely louder than a whisper. “Ya got me.” She turned around. “Where are we talking?”

Rex glanced around, then gestured to the closet General Skywalker had only just recently vacated. Ahsoka sighed, then trudged into the closet. The boys wouldn’t miss him for too long. He could take a moment to make sure Skywalker’s new Padawan wasn’t about to throw herself into the line of fire in order to gain the respect of her troops. Rex followed her in, then shut the door behind him. Ahsoka sat on a supply crate, her legs clamped together, hands clutched tightly around her arms. He didn’t need to be a Jedi to figure out her emotions.

Rex leaned against a section of shelves across from her. “I . . . hope you didn’t take the wrong part of our conversation to heart,” he said, removing his helmet.

“Uhh, what do you mean?” she actually looked up, meeting his gaze. Rex found himself momentarily captivated by the headdress she wore. It was a series of large, triangular things connected on a string that framed her face where skin met lek. Were those . . . teeth? He knew little about Togrutan culture and wondered if he should take the time to educate himself on the species now that he was going to be working with one of them. Or maybe that would be too much. If he really needed to, he could comm Gree when he had free time. If he said the word, the other clone might just go on for hours about Togrutas – or any other species, for that matter – giving him all the information he needed and more.

Maybe some other time.

“I just don’t want you to think that you need to go around doing needlessly dangerous things in order for the men to respect you,” Rex explained. “I’ve no problem watching your back, but I have my limits. I’m no Jedi.”

Ahsoka shifted. “Oh.” The markings above her eyes lifted. “I . . . thought I did something wrong.”

“’Course not,” Rex said. “It’s only been a few hours. If you’d managed to do something wrong that quickly, it’d be a new record.”

The kid grinned. “You don’t need to worry, Rex. I got this. I’m not planning on dying anytime soon. I'll try and reign in my impulse to do needlessly dangerous things.”

Rex smiled back. “That’s good, ma'am. You’ve already won over the boys. It’d be a shame if you only made it a day with the five-oh-first.”

“You really think they like me?”

“Most of them aren’t exactly shy,” Rex said. “If they didn’t like you, you’d probably know, protocol or not. Long as you stay charming and pull your weight, I think we’ll all get along just fine.”

Ahsoka laughed. “Noted.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorta combined two versions of this scene (one from the movie, one from the novel) and here we are. Plus I identified all the clones in the scene and added a few more important character moments


	3. Ascension

**Republic Gunship, Teth**

Sergeant Coric stared at the holographic display that now took up most of the middle section of the gunship. It showed a tall, raised plateau in the middle of a jungle. They were almost at the target location. According to the briefing they’d had before taking off, the monastery on top of the plateau was heavily guarded. By Separatists. Something was definitely up there, and they had it on good intel that it was Jabba’s son.

“We’re inserting in the jungle,” Captain Rex said, indicating the tree line around the plateau. “Scans show the seppies have got cannon emplacements up there, so we’ll be takin’ this place the hard way. We’ll use repel cables to get to the top. The ATs’ll attach to the cliff face and climb that way.”

“That’s a dangerous job, sir,” said Lunn from his position right next to Coric. “They’ll be pretty exposed on the way up.”

“We’ll all be,” Rex said. “But we don’t have much choice. We’re on a tight schedule, and there’ll be too much flak to try and insert on top of the plateau. It wouldn’t be a five-oh-first mission if it were easy.”

Coric slung his medical pack over his shoulder. He had a feeling that before this was all over, he’d be using it. And all this for a glorified space slug and some hyperspace lanes. Still, it wasn’t Coric’s place to question orders.

Skywalker’s new Padawan, Ahsoka, stood next to Rex as he went over the hologram. Even with her montrals, the kid only came up to the lower part of Rex’s shoulder. Which meant she only came up to the lower part of _all_ of their shoulders. She really looked like she’d boarded the wrong flight. Her Jedi robes were very clearly a few sizes too big, only adding to the effect. Skywalker himself had ducked into the cockpit, conferring with their pilot, Lieutenant Hawk. Coric could hear them talking over the whine of the LAAT/i’s engines only thanks to their raised voices and his helmet microphone.

“. . . We won’t be undetected now, you do know that, don’t you, sir? I’ll drop below the tree canopy as soon as I get a clear run.”

“Good,” Skywalker said, nodding, “then bang out as soon as we’re down. I need you standing by for extraction.”

“Will do, sir.”

Coric glanced behind him out of the open troop bay doors. A moment ago, they’d been flying over a sparkling, blue sea. Now, dense foliage and tall trees blocked any view he had of the ground below. They were almost there.

“Buckets on,” Rex shouted.

Coric snapped to. He shoved his helmet over his head and blinked to activate the HUD. Once he was sure everything was working properly, he checked the charge on his DC-15 and made sure his repel kit was in order. If their read of the plateau was right – and he had no doubt that it was – the line would just barely have enough length to get him and the other troops up to the top. As the others began checking in over the comm frequency, Coric heard Rex transmit a few last-minute orders to the other gunships.

“Transports – get the ATs down and then get out. We won’t be needing pickup for a while. Gunships one and two: west side. Gunships three and four: east side. V formation. Drop us off and we’ll meet in the middle.”

“Copy that, sir.”

“Sir,” Hawk’s voice came over the troop bay’s audio system, “estimated time on target – five standard minutes. Better assume they’ve seen us. I’m sealing the blast hatches now.” The bay doors on either side of the gunship hissed shut, sending the area around them into momentary darkness.

Coric breathed; flexed his hands. Any minute now . . .

“Stay close to me,” Skywalker was telling his Padawan.

“It won’t be a problem, Master,” she smirked.

“This isn’t practice, Ahsoka.”

“ _I know_ ,” she assured him. “And I’ll try not to getcha killed.”

Skywalker smirked back and Coric stifled a snort. Rex really had a way with kids, it seemed. He certainly figured out how to get her to lighten up. Maybe she could stand to ratchet back her confidence a few steps, but baby steps were baby steps.

Suddenly, the gunship shook violently. Coric almost lost his balance but managed to just barely hang onto the overhead rail.

“Taking heavy fire, sir,” Hawk called helpfully from the cockpit. “I’ll drop below their range, but stand by for a bumpy ride when we hit the forest.”

“Here we go,” muttered Ahsoka.

“Thirty seconds,” Rex advised.

The red emergency lights flickered to life, sending the interior of the gunship into a dull, bloody world. It wasn’t visual symbolism that Coric appreciated. He tapped his foot, ready to take off at a moment’s notice, and began cycling through comm channels. Better make sure everyone was good to go.

“Ridge, your comms got static,” he advised, pausing on one trooper’s frequency.

The kid hit the forehead area of his helmet once or twice. “Got it.”

“Red light; standby,” Captain Rex said, flicking the safety off his rifle.

The gunship shuddered as another round of laser fire hit home, but nothing happened. Coric felt that sinking feeling he always had in his stomach when rapidly descending.

“Welcome to paradise, rock-jumpers,” Hawk said over the radio.

The light flickered green.

“Green light!” Rex barked. The blast hatches flew open as he slapped Ridge on the shoulder. “Go, go, _go_!

Squaring his shoulders, Coric hefted his rifle and dove into the dense jungle.

* * *

Ahsoka looked up from beneath rock alcove she stood under. Master Skywalker and Captain Rex flanked her on either side as the other clone troopers lined up next to them, snapping their repel lines into place and getting ready to ascend the cliff. She placed a hand up over her eyes, shielding herself from a spray of dirt and rock kicked up by a few stray blaster bolts impacting the cliff face above her.

Something was coming.

She darted back underneath the alcove only a second or two before the form of a battle droid hit the ground. Captain Rex drew one of his sidearms and put a few rounds through its head.

“They don’t bounce much, do they?” he muttered. Peering out just as Ahsoka had, he looked back at her Master. “Ready when you are, sir.”

Master Skywalker, looking troubled, grabbed pair of vines. He clutched one himself and handed the other off to Ahsoka. She looked at it for a moment.

“Uh, what’s this for?”

“You and I gotta climb it somehow, don’t we?” her Master said, cocking an eyebrow.

Right. “I guess this is where the fun begins,” she said.

He smirked at her. “Race you to the top.”

“I’ll give you head start.”

“Your mistake,” Master Skywalker shrugged, then turned. “AT – return fire!”

The six-legged AT-TE angled its guns up toward the top of the cliff and let loose a deafening barrage of laser fire. Skywalker leaped straight up the cliff, clinging to the vine. Luckily for him, it held, allowing him to plant his feet against the stone and begin climbing. One hand held the vine, the other gripped his blue lightsaber, deflecting rounds as they came shooting down at him. Groaning, Ahsoka held her own vine tight and jumped up after him. All around her, she heard and saw clone troopers forming up on the cliff, firing their repel lines almost completely vertically before allowing themselves to be lifted up into the air. They took a similar stance, hanging off their rifles as they braced their feet against the cliff, firing upwards towards the droids stationed on the plateau above. The two AT-TEs began climbing as well, their mechanized legs biting into the rock as they pulled themselves up, turrets still laying down covering fire.

_Oh, wow. I didn’t know they did that._

Shaking herself and deflecting a blaster bolt that flew straight at her face, Ahsoka resumed climbing. Maybe racing Skyguy hadn’t been such a hot idea; he was already so far ahead of her that there was no way she was going to catch up to him at the rate she was going.

One of the AT-TEs passed her.

Wait . . .

_What am I climbing for? I should just hitch a ride._

Glancing to her right, she saw that the second walker was just drawing even with her. If she could time this right, she’d land right on the joint between its front and rear cabin. Grinning, she swung the vine, gaining momentum, before swinging across to the AT-TE and grabbing onto his armored outer shell. She let go of the vine, letting it fall back to its original position, and clipped her lightsaber to her belt.

Take that, Skyguy.

She had a much easier climb ahead of her, now.

Then the cockpit of the AT-TE ahead of them exploded. Ahsoka gasped, shocked, as she watched in horror as the walker lost its grip on the cliff face and plummeted toward the jungle below. _Through_ the troopers following it up. Ahsoka quickly lost count of how many white-armored forms she saw crushed or dislodged from their repel lines as the hulking vehicle tore down the cliff, kicking up more rock and dust as it fell.

Rex.

Where was the Captain?

Ahsoka’s eyes darted around all the troopers left climbing. He shouldn’t be too difficult to pick out – he was one of the few troopers that painted their armor. Well, that and the winged pauldron and funny skirt he wore.

Why couldn’t she see him?

Had he fallen?

Did he –

No. There he was.

Rex had stopped ascending and hung on his repel line, staring down as the AT-TE hit the ground with a tremendous crash. Why wasn’t he moving? She reached out to him through the Force.

_Pain_.

Pain so sharp and sudden that Ahsoka felt as though she’d been punched in the gut. What was she doing? Rex’s men were dying and here she was – a Jedi – doing nothing. She shouldn’t be passively hitching a ride; she should be doing something to protect the men under her command. Furious at herself, Ahsoka clambered up onto the AT-TE’s upper body, grabbing at exposed panels and grooves in the outer armor, dragging herself toward the cockpit. She was almost there when a scream of pain from right behind her drew her attention. She whipped her head around in time to see the AT-TE’s turret gunner fall from his seat, smoke trailing from a hole in his chest. She gritted her teeth.

No more.

With one final effort, Ahsoka jumped onto the flat front viewport of the walker, igniting her lightsaber. She spared the driver a single glance before focusing her gaze upwards. There were dwarf spider droids on the cliff face now, firing powerful laser blasts down onto them. Ahsoka swiped her blade through the air in an ‘X,’ deflecting a blast that would’ve likely taken out this AT just like the other one.

The walker's driver probably couldn’t see anything other than her boots and her butt. Not exactly flattering, but she had a job to do. As long as they were on a vertical incline, all he needed to do was keep moving forward.

_I’ll protect you._

As Ahsoka batted away another volley of lasers, a high whine from her left caught her attention. She glanced over for a moment only to see a squad of droids on STAP platforms approaching, firing their lasers and blasting clones off the cliff indiscriminately. They were headed straight for her AT-TE. Steeling herself, she shifted her focus to the STAPs, raising her lightsaber. They opened fire as they drew closer and she deflected blast after blast, even reaching out to try and cut one of the vehicles apart as they came within range of her swing. Nothing doing, though. Suddenly, her walker shook violently. Ahsoka glanced down to see one of the AT’s legs coming away from the rocks, smoking slightly. It must have been hit.

Ahsoka held completely still, dread coursing through her veins. What now?

In answer, the AT-TE’s front two feet dislodged and came away from the cliff completely. It reared back, on the brink of falling, and Ahsoka lost her balance. She stumbled, falling backward and nearly rolling off the walker’s front cabin, dropping her lightsaber on it in the process. _That’s it. I’m done. I failed. It’s over. I –_

No!

Desperately, she reached out and managed to just catch both her hands on the absolute edge of the vehicle’s cockpit. She clutched at like it was a lifeline – because it was. Her feet scraped at the walker’s hull, trying to find purchase, but they only found open space. Next to her, she heard the STAPs come around for another strafing run. Both she and the AT-TE were in the open with no cover.

Laser rounds bounced off the AT’s armor. Some whizzed right past her head. Ahsoka’s stomach turned. Maybe _this_ was it.

Then Master Skywalker landed on the AT-TE’s cockpit and jumped off, leaping towards the incoming STAPs.

* * *

“Rex, follow me!”

Rex ducked instinctively as one of the STAPs flew past his head. He had to blink twice when he realized that _General Skywalker_ was riding it, blasting dwarf spider droids off the cliff face and rocketing to the top of the plateau. He put his hand to his commlink.

“Yes, sir!” he switched it off. “Workin’ on it.”

He glanced backward – er – downwards. Their remaining AT-TE, the one that Ahsoka was now clinging to, was readjusting itself on the cliff face. Moments ago, he’d seen the walker take several laser rounds to one of its legs, causing it to lurch backward, fighting gravity to stay attached. His heart had stopped. He was sure they were about to lose the walker, the crew, the Padawan, and whatever men were climbing below. Then Skywalker had zipped by out of nowhere and blasted the other STAPs out of the sky, providing cover for the AT and the men around it.

He patched himself into the AT-TE’s comm frequency. “Walker Two.”

“Cato here.”

“Skywalker’s clearing us a path – headed to the top,” Rex said. “We need to get up there for an assist ASAP. He may be good, but who knows how many droids are up there. Get moving.”

“So I’m told.” Rex peered down and saw that Ahsoka was leaning over the cockpit, knocking on it and probably saying something similar. “On it, sir.”

The walker began moving again. Rex kept up his own ascent. There were no more spider droids ahead of him, and he thought he saw less blaster fire raining down on them from above. Skywalker must’ve reached the top and was providing one hell of a distraction. Rex remembered something he thought he saw and briefly angled his helmet’s 360-degree camera back to the AT-TE.

Yep.

No gunner.

“Our walker’s missing a gunner,” Rex broadcast over an open channel. “Anybody willing to fill-in?”

“I’m game, sir.”

Ged. If anyone could use a break from all this climbing, it’d be him.

“Get on it, then.”

“Sir!”

Rex cast around for a moment, then saw the trooper in question push off from the rock face. Holding his rifle tightly, he swung at a slant and managed to catch himself on the back of the walker before scrambling into the gunner’s chair. The laser fire had stopped completely at this point.

_Clink._

That was the end of his cable.

Rex scrambled up, his boots kicking up dust and rock fragments as he suddenly found himself standing on a wide, tiled plateau before the gates of the monastery that was their target. And there was Skywalker . . . one Jedi facing down at least a platoon of droids.

Of course.

“Fire!” he ordered, aware of the other troopers pulling themselves over the ledge on either side of him. They surged forward, rifles already raised and firing. Rex followed them, picking up speed to make sure he was the first into the fray. Shrapnel flew, oil spilled onto the ground, his men yelled as they shot, beat, and stabbed droids. And then it was over. A still sense of quiet descended over the plateau . . .

“Look out!” cried Hez, pointing ahead.

. . . only to be broken when a squad of droidekas rolled in from the courtyard ahead and uncurled, their blasters snapping into place and their shields springing to life.

Stang.

To his left, Skywalker raised his lightsaber into a defensive stance. Rex had to hand it to the man: he really could react to just about anything without showing weariness. He, on the other hand, was less sure. They weren’t packing anything that would punch through the droids’ shields, and unless Skywalker somehow managed to block every single shot that came their way, he was about to lose a lot more men.

And then the lead droideka exploded in a shower of sparks and white heat. Rex ducked and whipped around, only to see the AT-TE making its way onto the plateau. Ged saluted to him from the gunner’s seat. Ahsoka stood just beside him, but jumped down to meet Rex and Skywalker. Around them, the remainder of Torrent Company began to spread out and secure the area.

“Did you get hit?” she called as she ran. “Sorry.”

“No,” Skywalker said, shutting off his lightsaber and placing it on his belt, “I’m fine. I told you to stay close, so I can’t complain, can I?”

Rex glanced around and looked at his men. Half of them were dead.

Half.

Rex sent a signal to one of the gunships.

He lifted off his helmet. “All clear, General,” he said. “Fifteen wounded, sir.” Undoubtedly the General already knew how many were dead. It wasn’t something Rex was jumping to bring up. “I’ve called in one larty to casevac the injured. I didn’t wait for your order, sir . . .”

But Skywalker understood. “Fine by me, Rex. I don’t want to spend one more life on this Hutt than I have to.” He glanced around, very clearly ignoring the incredulous look Ahsoka had given him. “Judging by the number of droids, I’d say this is an official Separatist operation, not a spot of freelance hobby extortion.”

“Agreed,” Rex nodded. “It’s got Dooku’s fingerprints all over it, sir. Explains the dead bounty hunters, too.” During the briefing, they’d been notified that Jabba had preemptively sent a team of bounty hunters to the monastery. According to General Kenobi, the bounty hunters had returned to Jabba. As severed heads.

Ahsoka stepped between them. “But the hard bit’s over, right? I mean, we just crawled up a cliff under fire and wiped out a battalion of droids or something.”

“I wish you wouldn’t say that,” Skywalker said, turning toward some of the wounded men.

“’Fraid not, littl’un,” Rex told her, patting her on the head. She started a bit and flinched as if she hadn’t been expecting it. _Okay, noted. Don’t do that again._ “The hard bit isn’t over until we put our boots down on Republic soil again, preferably with one Huttlet on board.”

Skywalker was starting toward the courtyard and the monastery beyond, muttering something. In order to cover his awkward little moment, Rex signaled to Coric, who grabbed Lunn, Vaize, and Ayar before starting after the General. Rex followed, Ahsoka at his heels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Combining more book/movie scenes to create a frankin-story, plus I gave Coric a little POV; always thought he was pretty underrated in the canon scheme of things. I put Ged on the AT-TE gunner position since in the movie, the gunner dies during the climb but somehow a new one appears a few shots later; 2008, am I right? Glad you guys seem interested so far, and I appreciate the comments!


	4. Drawn In

**Monastery Courtyard, Teth**

Ahsoka adjusted her grip on the trooper’s – was it Coric? – backpack. She really was doing her best. Killing droids, protecting her master and the men – no, _her_ men. Now, it seemed her job entailed hauling around a Huttlet and getting used to the _awful_ smell he emitted that was only stronger due to her enhanced sense of smell.

It was hard, even if little Rotta was kind of cute.

She and her Master stood in front of his Delta starfighter while R2-D2 projected the holographic image of Master Kenobi in front of them. Captain Rex and his men had taken up position around them, and the AT-TE had settled somewhere in the courtyard.

“Have you found Jabba’s son?” Kenobi asked.

“If holomessaging transmitted smell, you’d know already,” Master Skywalker said. Ahsoka couldn’t help but roll her eyes a bit. He _really_ had a problem with Hutts for some reason. She just didn’t get it. “Yes, we have him. But . . .”

“But what?”

“He’s really ill. We need to get him to a specialist medic soon. Hutts just don’t get sick, so this is serious.”

Ahsoka didn’t know much about Hutts, but was glad her Master could fill in the gaps in her knowledge. Master Kenobi ran a hand over his beard, something he seemed to have a habit of doing.

“That’s the last thing we need right now, Anakin.”

“I think I worked that out, Master. And I’m pretty sure that this is a sting by Dooku. The whole situation stinks worse than the Huttlet.” That would be bad. Very bad. They needed to get out of here, save little Stinky, and get him back to Jabba before the end of the day. Dooku coming along with some kind of trap would definitely make things harder than they already were.

“He’s set us up to alienate Jabba, then. To stop us from getting access to Hutt routes.”

“I realized something was wrong after I lost half my men in breaching the monastery, and then we were allowed to just stroll in unopposed and get the kid.” Ahsoka wondered if she should interject about the battle droids she’d destroyed in the catacombs, but figured it wouldn’t exactly add to their conversation. “I was waiting for the ambush, but maybe this is it – he’s literally left us holding the baby. And it might end up being a _dead_ baby.”

Ahsoka shivered at that and absentmindedly patted Rotta’s head. He wasn’t very slick with slime of any sort. She didn’t think that was normal.

“You think Dooku has poisoned the youngling?”

“No idea,” Master Skywalker shrugged. “But the timing and circumstance make me wonder.”

“Let’s make sure Rotta survives, then.”

“I’m sorry, Master,” he shook his head, as if, somehow, he should have known this whole thing was a trap and avoided the whole thing. “Maybe I should have seen this coming. But it was a bad idea to deal with the Hutts. You can never win with them. You can only choose how badly you lose.”

Cheerful.

“Anakin, if we’d refused Jabba’s request for help, we’d never have been granted access to those routes anyway. We had no choice.”

“You think he’s colluding with Dooku?” Master Skywalker asked. Now _that_ would be a curve. “That he maneuvered us? It was _very_ unlike Jabba to ask for Republic help.”

“I don’t know,” Kenobi admitted, “but one thing we _can’t_ do is play into Separatist hands by letting anything happen to the baby. Top priority. We return it in one piece.”

At that moment, Ahsoka felt a tingle run down her spine. Not the someone-is-right-behind-me tingle, but the listen-to-your-senses tingle. Her eyes darted around, looking for something, anything out of place. She let out a low growl as her eyes found the sky. A couple of nearby troopers angled their heads toward her.

“Master . . .” she warned.

“Okay, Master.” He was ignoring her. “Understood. We – oh, great . . .”

One of the troopers next to her tightened his hand into a fist.

“Down!” one clone shouted. “Everybody down! Enemy fighters incoming!”

“Take cover!” Captain Rex bellowed. “Defensive positions!” 

Everyone’s rifles were up in a heartbeat and the clones were firing at the vulture droids that were suddenly bearing down upon them. R2-D2 ejected himself from Master Skywalker’s fighter, and rolled over, still transmitting Master Kenobi’s message.

“Master, we’re under attack. Got to go. And hurry up . . .”

“Anakin? _Anakin!_ ”

The signal cut out.

“Move, kid!” Ahsoka felt a gloved hand shove hard against her shoulder. She stumbled, sprinting toward the monastery entrance. She glanced behind her to see Rex waving her on with one hand and firing his pistol with the other. Master Skywalker was backing away from his starfighter. Suddenly, several bolts of laser fire hit the Delta-7 and it exploded in a ball of fire and shrapnel. Ahsoka turned back toward the doors, sprinting at full tilt. Her sensitive hearing picked up more of the sudden firefight as she ran.

“Dwarf spiders!”

“Take it down, _take it down_!”

She ducked underneath the AT-TE as it lumbered forward and dived behind what seemed to be some kind of pillar near the entrance to the monastery. She didn’t bother to draw her lightsaber. _Keep Stinky alive._ She hugged the backpack as close to her chest as possible, not peering out to see where anybody else was.

She tried to ignore the smell.

“Ahsoka! Are you okay?” suddenly her Master was there, just in front of her, deflecting blaster bolts with his lightsaber. “Talk to me, Snips!”

“I’m okay, Master,” she called back, her voice muffled by the backpack. “I’ve got Rotta. I think he’s too sick to notice what’s going on, poor kid.”

Small miracles.

“It’s okay. Keep your head down. And his. Artoo, get over there with her.”

As the little astromech droid whirred over, Ahsoka spoke again, suddenly guilty. “Sorry, Skyguy. I ran instead of sticking with you.”

“Rotta’s _got_ to stay alive. You did right, Snips,” her Master assured her. “Getting shot when you don’t have to isn’t heroic, it’s dumb.”

Captain Rex then appeared out of nowhere, slamming his hand onto Skywalker’s head and dragging him down, ducking behind another pillar to shield himself. Ahsoka was momentarily very surprised at the clone’s brazenness with the Jedi General. “Yes, sir, it _is_. Keep your kriffing head down.”

“I can sense rounds coming.”

“Okay, then do it to humor me,” Rex said, his tone flat. “So what’s it to be, sir? Stall them until General Kenobi gets here, or slug it out?”

“You know what they say about discretion and valor,” Master Skywalker said. “Can we land a larty? Can we get Ahsoka off this rock with the Huttlet?” Ahsoka looked up. The sky was full of vulture droids, raining laser fire on the courtyard. If her Master’s plan was to try and get a ship down to evac her and Rotta, she was going to have to raise an issue with that. It was _definitely_ not going to be possible. Luckily, Captain Rex seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

“Negative, sir,” he said. She breathed a sigh of relief, even though all she got back was a stronger whiff of Stinky’s distinctive odor. “Even if the larty isn’t pounded to pieces when it sets down, not even Hawk could guarantee getting past the Sep ships in one piece, and he couldn’t outrun them. We’re stuck.”

There was an air of finality in his voice that made Ahsoka nervous.

“Okay, then we dig in. Fall back and hold the monastery. Just concentrate on keeping that Hutt alive.”

Ahsoka shifted slightly. They needed to move soon; she could feel it.

“Got it, sir.” Rex looked down. Ahsoka plucked up the courage and peered into the courtyard to see how the firefight was going. Troopers were running away from the front courtyard gates, firing behind them. The AT-TE stood its ground, firing over their heads. “They could turn this whole plateau to molten slag from the air if they wanted to.”

“Not if they want the Hutt alive.”

“Okay, a picture is forming now . . .”

“If Dooku set this up, then he needs to be the one to hand Rotta back to Jabba,” Master Skywalker said. Somewhere in the back of Ahsoka’s mind, something told her that Count Dooku wouldn’t need to present Rotta alive if his goal was to frame them for his murder.

“What I wouldn’t give for air cover,” Captain Rex muttered.

“Twice in a row. Next time – we pack a squadron of Delta interceptors.”

“Here they come,” Rex said. Ahsoka supposed he must be talking to his men through this helmet’s radio. “Coric, Hez – covering fire. AT, get to that gate and block those tinnies. Everyone else – inside, _now_!”

She heard her master say something, but she was already sprinting back toward the entrance to the monastery. Her job was to keep little Rotta alive, and she _had_ to do her job. Ahsoka ducked as blaster bolts whizzed over her head. She kept low to the ground, thankful for both the Force and her Togrutan hunter’s instincts for keeping her alive, moving, and aware of the battle around her. Reaching the huge entrance, Ahsoka slipped inside and took cover in an alcove just next to the door. R2-D2 rolled in behind her, slipping out of the line of fire as well.

Moments later, Captain Rex appeared, holding a blaster pistol in either hand. Around him, more clones filed inside. He crouched and took cover beside the entrance; right next to Ahsoka

“Where’s my Master?” Ahsoka shouted over the firefight.

“Still out there,” Rex said, all his attention focused outside. “Covering the AT crew.”

“But what –”

“Pardon me.”

Rex stood and stepped outside once more, bringing up his pistols and firing them both. Ahsoka peeked around her alcove to get a better view. Rex stood just outside the door, covering a group of five troopers that darted inside. Two of them were carrying one man, who lay inert in their arms. Ahead of the Captain, Ahsoka could see her Master sprinting toward them, pursued by more droids than Ahsoka could count.

“Rex, get inside! Seal the door!” he shouted.

“With respect, sir, no.”

“I said _shut the kriffing door._ ”

The Captain froze. Ahsoka’s eyes widened. Was her Master asking Captain Rex to shut him out? What would he do? She hadn’t known the clone for very long, but she felt sure he wasn’t going to just abandon her Master like that. She was _sure._ Then, he stepped back and redirected one of his pistols. It almost looked as though he had it leveled at _Ahsoka_ , but that couldn’t be true. She glanced to her right. He was aiming at the door controls.

“No, wait!” Ahsoka shouted, jumping up and moving toward him, but he had already pulled the trigger. Two bolts of blue energy rocketed into the door controls, destroying them in a shower of bright sparks.

The door _fell_.

* * *

Rex barely had time to register Ahsoka’s movement before he tapped the trigger.

_One-two_.

And the door was suddenly in freefall. General Skywalker dropped to one knee and slid the last meter or so. As it was, he had to move back a bit to give him some room and bumped into Ahsoka, who he hadn’t realized had closed the distance between them and had ahold of his right bracer.

And then the door crashed into the floor and there was only darkness.

Inside, no one moved; no one made a sound. Outside, Rex heard the sounds of droids amassing outside. The whirr of their servos, the click of their weapons, the annoying, _whiny_ sounds of their voices. Slowly, troopers’ helmet spot lamps began to flick on. This was it. Their backs were against the wall with no other way out.

“Sir,” Attie piped up, “I think I left my lunchbox outside. Want to go and collect it for me?” It was like a switch had been flipped. Every remaining member of Torrent Company burst out laughing. So did Skywalker. So did Rex. In the large, open space, the sound carried, echoing around the chamber. Eventually, the laughter petered out, but the sound continued to bounce around the room. Ahsoka finally released Rex’s gauntlet and he slipped his pistol back into its holster.

Skywalker turned to him. “Rex, how many casualties? How many medics made it?”

Rex glanced around and checked the ID list in his HUD. “Forty-two men remaining, sir,” he reported, “three medic-trained. Six walking wounded, one seriously injured and immobile.” He glanced over at Cato, who was being worked on feverishly by Coric and the two other medics.

“Okay,” Skywalker said, sighing, “you know what to do, Captain. We’ll hole up in the least accessible cell we can find and if they get past you, then they’ll still have to get past me and Ahsoka. And Artoo.”

“Understood, sir.” Rex gave a signal with one hand and the men sprang into action. Three groups: one to barricade the door and fortify the position, one to set up tricks and traps along the passage and even on themselves in an attempt to slow or stop the inevitable droid advance, and one that consisted of the three medics setting up a first aid station. The droids were only getting that Huttlet after they crawled over every one of their dead, cold bodies. Skywalker began moving among the men, reaching out to touch them on the hands, shoulders, backplates, really anywhere he could reach. Rex knew the men appreciated it. He turned to Ahsoka, who squinted in the light from his helmet lamp. He switched it off.

“You thought I was going to shut him out?” Rex kept his voice low and made sure all his comm channels were turned off.

Ahsoka turned her blue eyes away, brow furrowed. “I . . . Yeah, I know it was dumb.”

Rex raised his hand fraction. For a moment, he thought about putting a hand on her shoulder, then remembered the reaction he got the last time he touched her. He put his hand down. “Trust goes a long way,” he said. “I trusted that General Skywalker knew what he was talking about. I knew the door would free-fall if I shot the controls, so I trusted myself to time its descent right. That and those clankers were getting pretty close to the door.”

“You’re right,” Ahsoka said. “I’m . . . sorry, Captain.”

“It happens to the best of us, kid. No problem.”

It really was unfortunate that there probably wasn’t going to be a 'next time' for them. The droids were going to breach the door sooner rather than later. Definitely before Kenobi and his forces arrived. With only forty-two men – _forty-one; Cato isn’t helping anyone_ – he had no illusions that, in a space like this, superior numbers would overwhelm them in a matter of minutes. The Jedi would find a way to get the Huttlet to Jabba and secure the hyperspace routes; Jedi always found a way. But Rex and his men? They wouldn’t be around to see it.

Ahsoka smiled at him. He was glad he was wearing his helmet.

“Thanks, Rex.”

“You’d better get going,” he said. “Good luck.”

“May the Force be with you.” She walked off to join her master at the back of the passage, R2-D2 trailing behind her like a dutiful pet.

He doubted it.

“Alright, you lot,” Rex said once the Jedi had disappeared. “You know the drill. If we can’t stop them, then we delay them as long as we can, and after that we make sure they have to crawl over our bodies. It’s been an honor, gentlemen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How tragic. Rex's 'pardon me' is my favorite line I've given him lol 
> 
> I know it's in the tags, but the next chapter is when the 'graphic depictions of violence' tag really comes into play. Things get kinda rough for Rex and the boys.


	5. By Any Means

**Monastery Entrance Hall, Teth**

It was dead silent in the main hall of the monastery. Coric and the other troopers had done everything they could think of to barricade themselves inside. They’d put explosives in the walls that Ged had connected to a tripwire, they packed backpacks full of debris to act as a crude extra barrier between them and a blaster bolt, they’d stripped anything off the walls and floor that wasn’t nailed down and set up makeshift cover all throughout the passage. Coric thought about how he and the other two remaining medics had set a mostly stabilized Cato at the back of the passage, out of the way of where the main battle was going to take place.

He tried not to think about how there was no way Cato was going to make it. Either the droids would crush them and shoot him or he’d just become unstable and slip away while they were fighting.

He tried not to think about how Lunn was already dead. He’d been shot outside while they had been retreating into the monastery.

He tried not to think about how, in reality, he and the other forty-one men with him were probably going to be joining him shortly.

In the silence, there was suddenly a noise.

_Click._

“They’ve cut the lock!” Hez warned.

The huge monastery door began to slide upwards.

“ _Here they come!_ ” bellowed Rex.

He didn’t even need to order anyone to fire. The moment they saw the droids’ waists, blue blaster fire filled the passage. The first wave – a load of good-for-nothing plain battle droids – were scrapped before they even got a shot off. The second rank filed in after that, not making it much further before hitting Ged’s tripwire. Explosions blew out each wall, sending debris and masonry raining down on the droids; burying them and kicking up thick clouds of smoke.

It didn’t buy them more than a second or two.

Super battle droids appeared through the haze, already firing. Could they see through the smoke? Coric barely could.

Ged took a round to the chest almost instantly and was gone.

As a pack of dwarf spider droids appeared alongside them, sending powerful laser blasts into the confined space they were in. Man, that was one hell of a disadvantage.

Hez was practically disintegrated when a pair of the spider droids focused fire on his position, wasting him and three of his squad. _No!_ They were losing. They were losing and it hadn’t even been sixty seconds yet. Skywalker wasn’t going to be bought much time.

As the droids drew closer and closer, Ayar poured half his clip into an SBD. The thing exploded, hit directly in the center of its mass. Shrapnel went everywhere. A particularly large and sharp piece flew forward, slicing clean through Ayar’s neck. He was decapitated. He slumped to the floor, painting both his armor and the wall behind him in red blood. The trooper next to him, shocked by the scene, froze. He took a round to the faceplate and was dead half a second later.

Vaize, who’d just finished throwing a grenade into the droid ranks, had his hands caught by and SBD. The wretched thing lifted him up into the air. Coric swiveled and aimed at it, but it was too late. The droid’s blaster arm fired, leaving a smoking hole in the man’s chest, and tossed him to the ground. Letting out a scream of rage, Coric fired, catching the super battle droid in its thin waist and bisecting it with the sheer amount of laser fire he put into the thing. He put his eyes forward again, only to see another droid – one of the regular ones – inches away from him, pointing its blaster at his chest. Coric pulled the trigger on his deece, but nothing happened. Empty.

So, he did what came naturally.

In a single, fluid motion, Coric used his right hand to eject the weapon’s magazine and reach into his belt for a reload. With his left, he shifted his grip on the gun and swung it like a club. He managed to catch the droid in the chest, sending it staggering backward. Out of nowhere, several blue bolts of energy struck the droid, killing it. As Coric finished his reload, he looked for his savior. It was Rex, naturally. But as the Captain swiveled back towards the door, and SBD flattened him with a single blow from one of its metal fists. Rex seemed to react on instinct, drawing one of his DC-17s and putting several rounds into the thing. He hit it, but the droid fell on him, knocking him into the ground with an impact that must’ve _really_ hurt.

“ _Coric!_ ” Rex called over the commlink, sounding choked. “Coric . . .”

While he was glad the Captain was alive, Coric couldn’t afford to answer. He returned fire on the door. Rex would be fine. If he stayed where he was, the droids wouldn’t bother with him. He himself, however, was still up and firing.

That was, until an explosion that vaporized the trooper in front of him sent Coric flying back into the wall.

* * *

_Jedi calm._

_Jedi calm._

_Jedi calm!_

It wasn’t working. Ahsoka’s breath came out in short gasps. She felt as though the Force was tearing her heart open. Death. Pain. Fear. Horror. Desperation. _Her men_ were dying. She hardly even knew any of their names and it was still awful. She could only imagine what her Master must be feeling, with his Force senses so much more attuned than hers and having known the men longer than her.

She sat down. Hard. “M-Master . . .”

“The droids have broken through.” He looked murderous. “Artoo, get a move on. We still have an objective to achieve. Ahsoka, are you ready to evacuate?”

Because she didn’t know what else to do, she reached down, picking up the backpack that held the Huttlet they still had to rescue. Rotta was no longer napping, nor did he feel quite as hot, even if he was still just as pungent. “H-Hey, you back with us, Stinky? Little nap do you good?” She slung the pack over her shoulders but didn’t move any more than that. They didn’t have anywhere to go. Yet.

“Just don’t die on us,” Anakin said, the venom in his words unmistakable. “The sooner we can get rid of you, the better.”

Ahsoka knew he was just venting. She almost felt that way herself. Rotta had cost them the lives of what must be all their men. Including Rex. But he was still just a baby. She couldn’t blame him for something that wasn’t his fault. It just wasn’t in her nature; she couldn’t do it. Even if it pained her more than she could say that Rex was gone.

“Master . . . How do you do it?”

“Huh?” the question seemed to catch him off guard.

“How do you deal with the pain?” she put a hand over her chest. “I can feel them. They’re _dying_ out there. And we can’t help them.”

Master Skywalker dragged on hand down his face. He was silent for a moment. “Snips,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I said before that command means being prepared to get troops killed. It means you have to be able to deal with the _fallout_ of getting troops killed, too.”

“Do you, what, block it out?”

“No,” her Master frowned. “It would be irresponsible. And it’s dangerous to cut yourself off from the Force in any capacity. You risk doing damage to your connection to it.”

“Then what do –”

“You have to feel it, Ahsoka,” he cut her off. “There’s no two ways about it. Sometimes I wish there was, but you just have to feel it. And not let it consume you.”

“How do you cope with feeling this all the time?” Ahsoka asked. If this was what the rest of the war was going to feel like for her, she wasn’t sure she could handle it. Getting to know clones like Master Skywalker told her she should only to lose them days – if not hours – later.

“You honor their memory,” Skywalker said. “We can do that now by getting that Huttlet off this rock and back to Tatooine.”

“And Rex . . .”

“I know.” Her Master’s grip on her tightened just a little too much for a fraction of a second. Then he released her. “Let’s make him proud. Okay?”

Ahsoka grimaced. She nodded slowly. “Okay.”

R2-D2 suddenly gave a triumphant sounding series of beeps. Swiveling his head around, he projected a holographic image of the monastery, complete with schematics of the indoor areas. The little droid highlighted a particular series of passages. A set that would take them from their current location to a landing pad.

“That’s a great place to land a larty,” Master Skywalker said. “Artoo, you’re the navigator – lead us down there and I’ll call for extraction.”

Determined to do her job and do it well, Ahsoka reached back and patted Rotta on the head. “You’re going home, Stinky,” she whispered. “Hang in there. You’ll be back with your daddy soon.” She sure hoped so. If the Huttlet didn’t make it and they were denied those hyperspace lanes, then Rex and his men would have died for nothing at all. She _wasn’t_ going to allow that to happen.

“Lucky slug,” Skywalker muttered, sounding bitter. “Get going, Artoo. Next stop, Tatooine.”

Ahsoka decided that, given their current miserable situation, she wouldn’t press him on his attitude toward Rotta.

* * *

None of the droids seemed to realize that Rex wasn’t really dead. It actually took Rex himself a few moments to work that out. The crushing weight on his chest had disappeared. He’d been left slumped against one of the alcoves about midway into the monastery’s entrance hall and was paid no mind as the tinnies milled about, securing the area.

_Okay, I’m alive. What now?_

He needed to get a grip on the situation. Figure out what his assets were, how much trouble he was in, what he needed to do to stay alive.

He blinked a couple of times, bringing up his team roster. Had any of his men survived?

Yes, indeed. Five biosign icons were active.

He keyed his helmet commlink, keeping the external speakers off and making sure his helmet was totally sealed before speaking. “Nobody move. Report in if you can hear me.”

“Receiving, sir.” Del.

“Yes, sir.” Zeer

“I hear you, sir.” Nax.

“Got you, sir. Just a few bruises.” Coric.

“And me, sir.” Attie.

“Anyone not capable of moving or using a weapon, speak up now,” Rex ordered. There were no noises other than his men’s breathing. _Okay, good_. Not only did he have five men – which was five more than he’d thought he’d have – but they were all apparently uninjured and still capable of fighting. No doubt they didn’t have their weapons, but they were all smart clones. They’d figure something out when the time came. “Okay, time for dynamic risk assessment. Follow my lead. When we get the chance to make a run for it, we head for the courtyard, grab any spare weapons, and rappel back down onto the jungle floor.”

It wasn’t that simple, but he needed it to sound that way.

They just needed to wait for the right move.

Then, two pairs of legs moved into view. Rex, curious, adjusted his field of view using his HUD’s panoramic feature with a few blinks. Two figures. One: a battle droid with yellow markings on its head and chest – a commander. Two: a thin, pale woman draped in black. Her head was shaved much like Rex’s own and her eyes burned as they surveyed the battlefield. In one hand, he spotted what appeared to be a lightsaber with a curved hilt.

_Nice choice of hairstyle, sweetheart, but something tells me you’re not a Jedi._

She had to be someone important to be leading this assault. Rex brought up his HUD’s database of Sep commanders. He had no doubt she’d be in there, with a lightsaber and a distinctive appearance like that.

Oh, yes. There she was.

Asajj Ventress.

Rex gritted his teeth. Ventress. The same witch who’d hoodwinked Slick into believing the Jedi had enslaved them. Who’d benefited from the information he’d passed onto her. By proxy, she was partially responsible for the bulk of Rex’s and Cody’s losses on Christophsis. She’d have to be taken care of. If for no other reason than to vent his spleen.

_I love my brothers!_

_You’re just too blind to see it._

_Yes she offered me money. But she offered me something more important. Something you wouldn’t understand. Freedom!_

“Stand by,” Rex whispered into his commlink. Slowly, ever so slowly, his hand went to his blaster pistol. The droids hadn’t found it because it was practically covered by Rex’s body and apparently they were either too lazy or incompetent to move him. His fingers settled around the grip and he pulled it from its holster, careful not to make a sound. Rex sighted up, aiming the blaster right at Ventress’ scowling face. It was going to be a smoking crater in a second. His finger curled around the trigger. Rex held his breath. And fired. The droid moved just as he pulled the trigger. The shot meant for Ventress instead blew the droid’s head off.

_Shit._

Rex shifted his aim and fired again, but it was too late. In a fraction of a second, Ventress had her red lightsaber out and deflected his next two shots. Then, she reached out her hand and Rex’s blaster was yanked violently from his grasp. The Force. The next instant, Rex’s form was lifted off the floor and he was held up against the wall by nothing other than his throat. If his helmet hadn’t taken most of the stress, she would’ve snapped his neck. Rex was having trouble breathing. It was like a vaccum had settled around his head, penetrating the airtight seals on his helmet.

_Nobody move, nobody move. Don’t do anything stupid._

“Captain,” Ventress purred, hand still outstretched. “What a miraculous return from the dead. Where’s your General?”

Rex struggled to speak around the stranglehold but managed it all the same. “Which one?”

“Don’t get smart with me. You know who. _Skywalker_. I know he’s here.”

Rex wasn’t Slick. He wasn’t going to betray the Jedi and the Republic on the say-so of some wannabe Sith. Especially not Skywalker and Ahsoka. “I haven’t seen them since the shooting started.”

“At least you’re not lying.”

“I’m not talking either . . .”

Ventress snorted. “Why do you bother to waste your lives for these Jedi scum?” she asked. “They don’t care what happens to you. They don’t care about anything except themselves and heir nice, comfortable Coruscant lives.” Not true. _Not true_. Kenobi had damn near sacrificed himself for them on Christophsis. Skywalker had come back for him on Arantara. Ahsoka stood over the AT-TE, deflecting blaster fire away from Cato during the ascent.

Ventress’ Force grip lightened a tad. “You’re less than an animal to them. A piece of equipment. So tell me where Skywalker and the Hutt are. I’ve got no personal grievance with you or your men.”

“I’m. Not. Slick.” Rex spat.

Ventress looked momentarily confused. “What?” 

“Slick,” Rex repeated. “I’m not him. You can’t trick me into doing your bidding.”

Ventress actually laughed at him. High. Cold. Disturbing. “Oh . . . you mean that little clone who helped me on Christophsis. My dear Captain, I didn’t trick him into doing anything. He came willingly. He _sought me_ out.” _No. No!_ “He saw exactly what the rest of you will come to learn in time. The Jedi don’t deserve your loyalty, soldier. When are you going to realize that?”

Out of options, Rex fell back on the only thing that could be relied upon in a situation like this: his training. He’d been trained to resist interrogation. And he was damn good at it. They weren’t exactly fond memories, but they got the job done. Some things just had to be learned by experience.

“Rex, Captin. Five-oh-first Legion. Number CT-seven-five-six-seven.”

Ventress tightened her grip a fraction. “When you’ve served your purpose, they’ll leave you to rot and die like they left my Master. And he was one of their own, a Jedi. How much do you think Skywalker cares about a chattel like _you_? When you’re too broken to use, he can get another one just like you.”

No. That’s not who Skywalker was. There was no way she could convince him of that. He’d saved Rex’s life too many times for him to _ever_ believe he didn’t care about him.

“Rex, Captain. Five-oh-first Legion. Number CT-seven-five-six-seven.”

Rex caught Ventress’ eye. He went cold. She wasn’t lying to him. She believed every word that came out of her mouth. Her master had been a Jedi? And they hadn’t come to save him when he needed it. That didn’t sound like the Jedi he knew. Was that even possible? She was angry at his death. And she wanted to get even. Rex could relate to that if nothing else.

“They’ll leave you when it suits them, clone.”

Her eyes were blue, like Ahsoka’s . . .

_That_ snapped him out of it.

No. Ahsoka’s eyes were much warmer than that.

_I’ll watch your back._

_And I’ll watch yours._

No. There was no way he was selling out Ahsoka to this hairless harpy.

_She’s got to be using mind-influence. I wouldn’t be thinking these things unless she was in my head. Jedi mind tricks only work on the weak-minded. And I’m_ not _weak-minded._

“Rex. Captain. Five-oh-first Legion. Number _CT-seven-five-six-seven_.”

Ventress closed the distance between the two of them. Her face was the only thing Rex could see in his visor. He averted his gaze, desperate not to look into those eyes again. When she spoke next, her voice was soft; layered somehow. There was some kind of power there.

“You will contact Skywalker now. You will tell him you’ve held the droids. You will ask him for his position.”

Rex almost did it.

But no.

She was doing it again. _I’m not weak-minded._ _I can resist_.

But he had to warn his General. Had to let him and Ahsoka know that trouble was coming. What could he do?

And then something in his mind clicked. And . . . _something_ . . . flooded into his consciousness.

Resist by not resisting.

Rex tapped his wrist comm and held it up to his mouth. Thankfully, Ventress relaxed her grip on him. He still felt a slight presence around his throat, but his feet touched the ground once more. “Anakin, come in,” Rex said in his most casual tone. “We’ve held the droids, sir. What is your location?”

* * *

Rex wasn’t moving.

After the crazy lady – Ventress – had found that, to her displeasure, Skywalker was not going to respond to Rex, she’d thrown him across the room in a fit of rage before ranting at them for a good several minutes. Then, she’d left a contingent of droids to guard them and stalked off into the monastery to track down General Skywalker herself. Rex now lay just beside Coric, who was still standing, slumped against the wall.

Unconscious, dead, or faking?

“Sir?” Coric asked, keeping his voice exclusive to the commlink. He was keeping himself occupied by switching comm channels every few seconds, searching for an opening that would connect him with Republic forces. So far, no luck. The Seps were getting thorough about jamming them.

“I hear you, Coric,” Rex assured him.

“Just checking you’re still with us.”

“I’m fine, Sergeant,” Rex said. Coric knew that was a lie; after a firefight like that, getting Force-choked, mind-influenced, and thrown across a room, Rex had certainly seen better days. Coric’s medic side was itching to examine his brother, but he couldn’t exactly do that right now. “I’ve never hit a woman, but she’ll be the first when I get a chance.”

Coric snorted. “I’ve never been called a _lickspittle Jedi_ _lackey_ before.”

“I rather liked _naïve cannon fodder_ myself.”

“ _Dim organic droids_ really did it for me,” Nax added.

“I thought she’d like you,” Coric said, “what with the same haircut and everything.” Humor was as good a way as any to defuse the tension from their current situation. Coric often found it helped at least a little.

“Maybe I should have taken my helmet off and shown her,” Rex said. “Still . . . not exactly my type.”

“Didn’t know you had a type, Captain,” probed Zeer. “What exactly is it?”

“Are we sharing?” Attie asked. “Mine’s Twi’leks.”

“Kinky,” Del deadpanned.

“If we ever get out of this, maybe I’ll tell you sometime,” Rex said. “Can we focus?”

“So . . . she’s a Jedi of some kind?” Coric asked.

“Sith,” Rex corrected, “or a dark adept. Red lightsaber is a giveaway, apparently.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Membership subscription, maybe.” Rex focused them once more. “I’m still not getting any clear comm channels.”

“Me neither, sir,” Coric reported. The others mumbled their agreement. Apparently, they were all scanning for a way to call for help as well.

He doubted they’d find one.

Then, Rex’s wrist comm beeped. “Rex, are you receiving? This is Skywalker.”

_Oh, hell_.

Two battle droids near them swiveled.

“Here we go, gentlemen. Stand by.” There was a nervous edge to the Captain’s voice that Coric could just barely detect.

“Did you hear that?” one of the droids said, turning to its compatriot.

“It came from the prisoners.”

A third droid plodded over and peered down at Rex, whose link was still beeping. “Rex, if you can’t respond – tap the receiver or something.” The droid leaned in further.

While Coric appreciated his General’s faith in Rex, he wished he hadn’t chosen this exact moment to try and make contact.

Rex raised his arm toward the droid. _Any second now_. “Want to see how it works, clanker?” Just like that, he grabbed the droid’s chest with one hand, made a fist with the other one, and drove it up under the thing’s head. Coric was impressed – he actually managed to decapitate it. Must’ve hurt like hell, though.

Coric snatched the E-5 blaster from the fallen droid’s grip and leveled it on the other tinnies in the monastery’s entrance hall. He blasted one before it had turned, but a second fired a few rounds at him that he just barely managed to dodge. He shifted his aim toward it but by that time, Nax had gotten to his feet and was bludgeoning its head in with a piece of masonry. As Coric laid down fire and Rex gouged out another droid’s photoreceptors with his vibroblade, Nax, Del, Attie, and Zeer snatched up fallen weapons and joined them.

“Where to, sir?” Del asked.

“The courtyard,” Rex said. “We can take cover in the AT.” The six troopers sprinted out of the monastery and made for the fallen walker, shooting at the battle droids that were milling about the courtyard, unaware that their previously helpless prisoners had just turned the tables on them. They were catching on, though. As the clones took cover under the burned-out shell of the AT-TE, the droids turned their full attention on them.

“I _enjoyed_ that,” Nax muttered. “Really got some tension out of my system.”

“Well, relax with a few of _those_ ,” Rex said, indicating the SBDs that were swiveling around to face them. “Everyone got their repel lines primed, just in case?”

“Yes, sir,” everyone said. No one was to keen on moving just yet, though. There were brothers to be avenged.

“Rex, respond!” Skywalker was still hanging in there.

_Good man._

“Receiving, General,” Rex finally replied, putting the poor man out of his misery. “We’re pinned down in the courtyard – me and five men –”

“Need assistance?”

“– and a Hutt-load of tinnies.” Rex sent a few more shots into the droids around them. “Make that a Hutt-load minus one.”

“I’ll take that as a yes, Captain. On our way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suprise! Here's two chapters in a day because there's not much going on during quarantine and I love writing. I know Rex's interrogation scene is told from his perspective in the book, but it was too important for his character journey in this series for me not to include it, so I switched up most of his internal dialogue. Additionally, I gave Nax, Attie, Zeer, and Del some time to shine.


	6. Ashes

**Monastery Landing pad, Teth**

Ahsoka backed away from the door, her eyes trained on the two hot spots that had appeared there. Master Skywalker had just been about to go back for Rex and his surviving troopers when two droidekas had appeared, forcing them to stand their ground. As R2-D2 had shut the door, a shaven-headed woman had appeared, brandishing a pair of curved red lightsabers. Lightsabers that were now slowly cutting a hole through the door. Toward them.

“I think,” Skyguy said, stepping back along with her, “that now’s a good time for a retreat.”

“Retreat?” Ahsoka quoted. “That’s a new word for you.”

He rolled his eyes, then darted over to the edge of the platform and peered over the edge. “There’s a lot of jungle to hide in.”

“There’s a lot of _things_ in the jungle,” Ahsoka pointed out, looking over the edge with him. “Oh, and spider droids.” Several were climbing their way up the cliff face now, their legs gripping the rocks and making slow but steady progress. Some paused and fired laser rounds into the landing platform, causing it to shake slightly.

Great; first they had to fight a vulture droid on this stupid platform, and now it was a bunch of spider droids and a Sith.

“Well,” her Master grimaced, “the choice is to have the platform shot out from under us, or stand here and wait for Ventress, or go over the side and mee the spider droids.”

Ahsoka’s eyes darted around, sizing up their options. They were all bad. They couldn’t wait for the platform to crumble; they’d die. Going over and tangling with the spider droids wasn’t ideal, as descending a vine and deflecting blaster fire from below would be perilously tricky. Waiting for the door to come down meant a lightsaber duel, which was no good with little Rotta to protect. “Can I answer ‘none of the above,’ Master?”

Her attempt at humor fell a bit flat.

From his position in the backpack strapped to Skyguy, Rotta began to whine. “Carry on complaining, my smelly friend.” Rotta suddenly changed noises, emitting a coo of what Ahsoka could only describe as surprise. He lifted one tiny arm and pointed behind Skyguy. “Well, a change is as good as a rest.”

Ahsoka turned and scanned the horizon, searching for something. “What’s he pointing at?”

“He’s pointing?”

“Over there!” Ahsoka narrowed her eyes, thankful for her predator’s long-range vision. “How did we miss it? I never spotted that before. Over there. Another plateau. And look what’s on it!”

“ _What?_ I can’t see,” Master Skywalker said, retrieving his electrobinnoculars.

Ahsoka peered past the weird, gigantic insects that were suddenly being stirred up by the commotion of the dwarf spider droids below them. In the distance, on the other plateau, she could make out the shape of a large ship resting on a landing platform much like the one they were currently standing on. “Look at the thing that’s glittering,” she prompted.

“It’s – hey, you’re right,” Master Skywalker said. “It’s a ship. But we’re here, and it’s there. I make that . . . two clicks away. Three.” Ahsoka deflated once more, stepping away from the edge of the platform. He was right, of course. None of them – save Artoo – could fly. There was no way for them to get to the ship. Not without going over the edge with the droids and hiking three clicks through the jungle. It still wasn’t a solution to their immediate problem.

“Yeah . . .” she said. “I know. It was just a thought.”

R2-D2 let out a warning whistle. Ahsoka looked up and her Master turned back toward the door. The lightsaber-wielding woman – Ventress, Skyguy had named her – was nearly finished cutting through the door. Just as she realized that, the platform shook again as another barrage from the spider droids connected with the permacrete.

“Artoo!” Skyguy suddenly shouted. “Can you generate an audio signal that matches a larty’s drive profile?”

What?

The little droid beeped in the affirmative and let out a sound that was a direct match to a LAAT/i. Ahsoka looked at Skywalker. “Master, just tell me . . .”

“We’re calling in one of those insects,” he explained, gesturing to the huge bugs circling below them, “and we’re going to ride it out of here.”

Ahsoka sucked in a breath.

Then let it out. “Okay,” she sighed, “I’ve done a lot of crazier things today. Why the sound effects?”

“The insects think it’s an invitation to go on a date,” Master Skywalker explained. “They were all over the larty, remember?” Oh, she remembered. She remembered the vulture droid swooping in and the gunship exploding in a ball of fire before her eyes. The crew was below them somewhere, dead.

“Can . . . Can you steer?” The platform shook again. “Provided we can hang on, of course.”

Skyguy shrugged. “Force-pull here, Force-push there. As long as we take off. That’s my priority.”

_Okay, then. We’re gonna ride out of here on an unsuspecting horny bug. I guess this is our plan._

Ahsoka glanced back toward the doorway. Ventress was three-quarters of the way through the door. If that insect didn’t show up looking for love soon, things were going to go downhill really fast. As luck would have it, they didn’t have to wait very long. One of the insects below them began to fly up toward them, jerking this way and that, making strange keening sounds that – actually – kind of _did_ sound like a larty. If she wasn’t so nervous, Ahsoka would’ve laughed. Seeing his opportunity, Skyguy took a step back, prepared himself, then leapt off the platform and onto the bug’s back, Rotta screaming all the way.

“I hope I don’t have to learn _that_ ,” Ahsoka muttered.

_Crash._

As R2 rolled over to her side, she whipped around, drawing her lightsaber and igniting it. A huge, almost perfectly circular hole had been cut through the landing pad’s door. Stepping out of it was the tall, shaven-headed woman she’d caught a glimpse of moments earlier. Ventress. In either hand, she held a curved, red lightsaber. Intent to kill was written all over her face.

She smirked in a superior manner. “So, Padawan, he’s abandoned you.” Ventress snapped her two lightsabers together to form a single, double-ended blade. “It’s a Jedi habit.” She reached out in the Force and, before Ahsoka could do anything, sent poor R2-D2 falling at the feet of the battle droids that guarded the door behind her.

Scowling, Ahsoka gripped her own lightsaber two-handed and began prowling in a wide circle around the woman – if she could be called a woman.

“Where are you, Skywalker?” called Ventress, glancing around.

Ahsoka felt momentarily offended. “You’re fighting _me_ ,” she spat. She only needed to hold out for a few seconds before Master Skywalker got control over his bug and came back for her. She hoped.

“So I am,” Ventress said. “Nothing personal.”

Ahsoka raised her lightsaber and charged. Just before they met, she dropped to her knees and skidded forward, dropping under Ventress’ guard and swinging her blade at her legs. The assassin jumped backward and twirled her lightsaber like a staff, batting Ahsoka’s saber away. The Togruta was on her feet in an instant, barely able to block a second blow that would’ve cleaved off her head. She darted from left to right, doing her best to keep Ventress guessing as to where she’d strike next. She struck and parried, green and red blades meeting for a fraction of a second before disengaging and holding back, waiting for the next blow. Maybe she could wear Ventress down with a prolonged fight; lull her into a false sense of security. Then, she’d switch things around and catch her off guard, giving Ahsoka the ability to deliver the killing blow. An old Togrutan strategy.

But apparently Ventress knew that.

The assassin stood completely still; lightsaber held out away from her body. She waited.

This had to be a trap. Still . . .

Ahsoka approached cautiously, wondering when it was going to be sprung. She got within striking distance and still, nothing happened. What was going on?

_Kriff it._

Ahsoka gripped her ‘saber and swung.

Ventress sprang into action, twirling her lightsaber an impossible-to-follow figure eight movement, catching Ahsoka’s blade in four different strikes. The surprising move and the force behind each blow caught Ahsoka unawares and her blade flew from her grip, falling to the permacrete several meters away.

‘ _Uh-oh’_ was all Ahsoka had time to think before Ventress stretched out a hand and Force pushed her to the ground. The impact was so jarring that it almost knocked all the breath from her lungs. She immediately made to get up again but found she couldn’t move. Ventress had one hand outstretched and was keeping her there with the Force. The woman put one boot on Ahsoka’s chest and pressed down. Hard.

“Where’s Skywalker,” she demanded.

Ahsoka squirmed but to no avail. “You’ll find out the hard way,” she spat.

Hopefully.

“Very well,” Ventress scowled. She looked up and spoke to the sky. “I can start lopping off body parts, Skywalker. Your call.” Nothing. Ventress shifted her lightsaber so that the blade was mere millimeters away from Ahsoka’s throat. “Let’s trade. Special two-for-one offer – a Padawan and a droid for one Huttlet. Can’t say fairer than that.”

Ahsoka saw the bug appear from over the side of the landing platform. Behind Ventress. _There he is._ Skyguy was riding atop the insect, Rotta still safely strapped to his back. Wrestling with his mount for half a second, he sent the bug flying forward directly into Ventress’ back. She dropped forward, her lightsaber plunging into the permacrete right next to Ahsoka’s neck, nearly up to its hilt. Knowing that now was her opportunity, Ahsoka rolled clear just as Ventress did the same. She sprang to her feet, reached out, and called her lightsaber back to her hand. Now wasn’t the time to fight, however. Now was the time to retreat. Back by the door, the two battle droids that were standing over R2-D2 took aim.

“Hold fire!” Ventress screamed, holding one hand out. “Hit him, and you kill the Hutt!”

“You catch on quick,” Skyguy quipped. “I’d like my Padawan back, please.”

Ahsoka grinned.

Ventress retreated towards the door, lightsaber still clutched in her hands, evidently looking for a way to retaliate. Luckily, there was none. Master Skywalker directed the bug as best he could, pushing it this way and that, trying to get it close enough for Ahsoka to grab onto his outstretched hand. It was easier said than done. The bug was bucking and swerving this way and that, clearly not happy with being deprived of its love-session and suddenly subjected to being an unwilling mount for a Jedi Knight. Its long tail thrashed and its mandibles snapped angrily, causing Ahsoka to keep her distance to avoid being bludgeoned by her escape vehicle.

The platform beneath Ahsoka’s boots shook one final time as a barrage of laser fire connected with it. Her world suddenly titled as the slab of permacrete hung in the air at a forty-five-degree angle, sure to fall at any second.

“Jump!” Skyguy shouted, holding out his hand one last time.

_Now or never._

Ahsoka leapt into the air, stretching out both her arms and calling upon the Force to lift her higher.

She _just_ made it.

She landed directly in front of her Master, half-hanging on the insect’s head and neck as her legs scrambled against empty air, just as they had during her near-fall off the AT-TE not so many hours ago. Quickly, Master Skywalker grabbed a hold of her and dragged her upright, situating her just ahead of him.

Then he steered them away from the platform and they flew off, R2-D2 trailing them with his arm-mounted boosters.

Away from Ventress.

Away from the droids.

Away from Rex.

* * *

Rex wielded his two appropriated DC-15 carbines with as much deadly accuracy as he could given that all he really needed to do was point and shoot. There were just that many droids coming at them.

They’d been pinned down before, but reinforcements had shown up out of nowhere after Zeer – the company’s combat engineer – had sent an SBD he’d reprogrammed and packed with explosives back behind enemy lines and detonated it, blowing away more tinnies than they’d hoped. Now, it seemed the droids were taking them a bit more seriously and were determined to bury them under a mountain of their own metal bodies.

They’d created something of a makeshift barrier around the AT-TE they were covering under using the carcasses of dead droids, rubble, and anything else they could get their hands on. Coric and Del had abandoned the heavy repeating blaster turret they’d forcefully taken off the droids in favor of using smaller arms and hiding behind better cover. Nax was leveraging a DC-15 rifle, firing nonstop, and muttering to himself intermittently as though he were the announcer for a bolo ball match – “There he goes again! Nax makes a brilliant play, taking out two droids with a single blaster bolt. I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything like that before, do you?” – Zeer had crawled into the AT-TE’s interior and was working on something.

Attie clapped Rex on the shoulder. “Get down, sir,” he said, turning back to the launcher he’d found. “Mortar surprise incoming . . .”

Rex didn’t need to be told twice. He ducked down, taking the opportunity to reload both his deeces.

“Cover – fire!” _Thump._ “Cover – fire!” _Thump._ “Cover – fire!” _Thump._

It didn’t do more than slow the droids, but it provided a nice few seconds of relief as the blaster fire around them became less oppressive.

Zeer emerged from the belly of the AT-TE. He was carrying a flamethrower. Where _that_ had come from, Rex would never know. “New and improved,” he said. “Removes those _difficult_ , ground-in tinnies that other flamethrowers can’t touch.”

Rex looked around. The droids were closing in on them. It’d only be a few more minutes before they were close enough for Zeer’s surprise flamethrower to come in handy.

“Just end it,” Coric muttered. “Got to stop sometime.”

Rex gestured at Zeer to put the flamethrower down and get back to firing. “Hang onto that. Droid flambé for dessert.” He glanced over. “Coric, you okay?”

“Always am, sir.”

“Good man.”

He knew that, at this point, the prolonged battle waiting for the inevitable was taking a toll on all of them. They’d missed their opportunity for escape after Zeer’s perfect diversion with the explosive SBD. Now it was only a matter of time before the end came. It was unfortunate he was going to go this soon into the war. There was plenty he hadn’t done in life yet.

He’d never had spiced creams – a desert that, for some reason, everyone craved. Must have been a holdover from Jango.

He’d never seen a live bolo ball match.

He’d never been promoted – not that he was complaining, he rather liked his position with Skywalker. Not that it mattered much now.

He'd never seen a holovid in the theaters.

He’d never been drunk – not that he really was looking for that, but he figured it was something everyone should experience at least once.

He’d never kissed a girl.

There were plenty of things he’d never done in his ten years of life. Then again, there were plenty of things he _had_ done that most other ten-year-olds would never dream of. But most kids that age didn’t know how to fire a blaster. Or cope with the deaths of all their close friends. Or look like they were twenty. So there was that.

Then his comm went off.

“– Five-oh-first – Twenty-twelfth inbound – air group – time on target fourteen-oh-seven –”

The blaster fire around them stopped suddenly. Rex waved to all his men to get down. “Kenobi’s here,” he hissed, a grin splitting his face. “Listen for the larties . . .”

“Republic cannon fodder!” called the voice of a droid. “Surrender! You can’t carry on.”

Attie snorted. “That’s rich.”

Rex peered out from behind one of the walker’s legs. A droid commander had disengaged from the rest of the Sep forces and stood out in the open, addressing them. As the leader of their little squad, Rex figured he’d better take care of this. He slipped out from behind the AT-TE, waving back Coric and Del, who tried to stop him.

He must have been quite a sight. Armor scratched, dented, and dirty, cracked or broken ribs, a hand that was practically numb after punching that droid earlier. But he still stood as tall as he could manage.

“Who’re _you_ calling cannon fodder, droid?”

“Surrender immediately.”

Maybe Attie was right and the droids really did want them alive as bait for Skywalker. It was about to not matter. Rex kicked up his external audio pickup and smirked. He could just hear a symphony of lovely, familiar noises.

“I wish you’d asked earlier. Because then –” The droids behind the commander all exploded as a missile from an incoming LAAT/i pounded into their position. “– you wouldn’t have been outnumbered.” Rex slipped back into the cover of their AT-TE as more gunships appeared overhead and the boys of the 212th Attack Battalion repelled down into the courtyard, engaging the droids that had yet to realize they were facing a much larger and more prepared enemy force now.

“’Bout kriffing time,” Nax said. “No Skywalker?”

Not yet.

And then General Kenobi appeared from thin air, landing from somewhere above right next to Rex, who was busy reloading his small arsenal of weapons.

“Good timing, sir.” Rex was hard to ruffle.

“Obviously not good enough, Captain,” Kenobi said, looking around at what remained of the 501st’s Torrent Company. “Just these men left?”

“Sir,” was all Rex could muster.

“I’m sorry. So where’s Skywalker?”

Rex was asking himself that same question. “Last known position somewhere in the monastery, sir, but that was some hours ago. We’ve had no further contact.”

“I’ll go look for him.”

“Watch out for a woman with my taste in hairstyles and a double-ended red lightsaber,” Rex warned.

“Ventress . . .”

“Smack her one for me, will you, sir?” Rex asked. “She gave me a few fractures.”

Kenobi smiled. “Count on it.” And he was gone, leaping out of their little shelter and bounding off towards the monastery, lightsaber blazing, cutting down droids as he went. Rex envied his energy. He himself was running on empty.

Rex’s wrist comm beeped. “Captain Rex, this is General Skywalker.”

“Speak of the devil,” Del remarked.

Intensely relieved, Rex clicked the receiver and held it up. “Go ahead, sir.”

“Apologies for vanishing. Been a little busy.”

No doubt that big rumbling and the smoke he’d seen coming from the opposite side of the monastery some hours ago had indeed been him. “Understandable. Comm working now, sir?”

“Ah, yes . . .” Skywalker sounded guilty. “We’ve got a problem, Rex. The Hutt kid is getting sicker. I’ve commandeered a ship and I’m going to transfer the kid to Admiral Yularen’s vessel. We’re not going to be able to get to you yet. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about us, General,” Rex assured him. “We’ll be alright. The mission always comes first, sir.” There was no response. Telling. “You’d have to wait in line anyway – Cody’s lads have taken all the best seats. We can’t move for orange stripy armor. Hurts the eyes.”

“So you don’t need us, then.”

“We’re fine, sir,” Rex assured him. It felt strange to be reassuring his commanding officer, but he did it nonetheless. “Good luck with the Hutt. I’ll let General Kenobi know you’re okay, because he’s just gone looking for you in the monastery.”

“I didn’t mean to waste his time.”

“Oh, I don’t think he’ll mind, sir. He’ll probably take the opportunity to catch up on old times with Ventress.”

Skywalker laughed a humorless laugh. Rex closed the link.

“Well, that’s a relief,” Coric said, sighing.

“Well, there’s a different ending to your holovid, Sarge,” Attie said. “We all lived happily ever after.”

“No,” said Del. “Most of us didn’t.”

Though Rex’s adrenaline was ebbing and he was shaking worse than a Kowakian monkey-lizard on spice, he still set down his carbines and picked up a rifle, cocking it.

“In that case,” he said. “Let’s commemorate them the Five-oh-first way. By wiping out every last tinny on this rock.”

Rex felt strange then. As though a part of himself had left suddenly; faded into the back of his mind and lay dormant. He wasn't really sure what that meant, but he couldn't focus on it right now. There was work to be done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of the Teth arc. The next two chapters will be dealing with the fallout of the battle


	7. All Gone

**Republic cruiser _Spirit of the Republic_ , hyperspace**

Rex stood in the entrance to Torrent Company’s barracks aboard the _Resolute_ and just stared. Row upon row of bunks sat empty. Unused.

144 beds. 6 men left.

He closed his eyes.

Lunn took two shots: one in the waist and one in the head. Coric wasn’t doing well.

Ged was cut down by droid fire almost as soon as they had crossed into the threshold of the monastery.

Hez was disintegrated by dwarf spider droids.

Ayar was decapitated by shrapnel after taking out a tinnie at point blank range.

Vaize had been picked up by one of the super battle droids, which had proceeded to put two rounds through his chest. He’d been tossed aside like garbage.

He didn’t know if Cato had been shot by droids or if he’d just expired with no one around to keep him stable. Either way, he was gone.

They were all gone. Them and droves of others. Torrent Company was all but gone. It was just him, Coric, Nax, Attie, Zeer, Del, and Ridge, who had been hit by falling debris on the climb up to the monastery and been casevaced before the fighting started. They were all that was left. If anything else happened, the company would’ve been completely dissolved. As it was, Torrent Company was going to be completely different after this. Rex wasn’t sure when they’d get sent new shinies, but he wasn’t looking forward to it. New faces; new kids who needed to be made into veterans. New troops that wouldn’t last a week. And the cycle would just continue into infinity for all he could tell.

Rex glanced around at his men. Coric was obsessively cataloging his medical kit, even though he’d already done it twice in the hours since they’d picked up Skywalker and Ahsoka on Tatooine. He knew the man blamed himself for the troops he couldn’t save – it was a problem many medics struggled with. Nax was adding names and numbers to the memorial labeled **Teth** on one of the walls; he had a good memory. Attie was beside him, helping. Zeer sat on his bunk, disassembling and reassembling what looked to be a commlink. Del slept.

Rex needed to not _be here_. He turned and stalked out into the corridor, not looking back. He hadn’t even bothered to change out of his armor. It was still dirty; marred by glancing blows, burn marks, and more scratches than he could count. He hadn’t hit the ‘fresher yet, either. He probably looked like shit. Felt like it, too.

Without realizing it, Rex had arrived at the entrance to the ship’s mess hall. Eating would be good. _If I can stomach it_. He hadn’t had much aside from a few dry rations in the last twenty-four hours. A meal might do something to improve his poor mood. Even if it didn’t, it was better than nothing. He needed to do something besides stare at all those empty beds and think about the nearly one hundred and fifty death reports he’d have to file later.

The door slid open.

The mess was empty. Of course it was – an entire company of 501st troopers had just been killed. And more before that on Christophsis. They were a little understaffed. Rex stepped into the mess and cast around for somewhere to sit. It wasn’t like there weren’t options.

“Rex!”

He started at that. The voice was his own, but – no. Rex scanned the mess hall a second time and, to his immense surprise, saw Commander Cody sitting at one of the tables just out of view of the door, an empty food tray and a datapad resting before him. Rex frowned. If he hadn’t noticed his best friend sitting practically right in front of him, he was really slipping.

Regardless, he trudged across the mess hall and sat down across from his brother. “Hey, Cody. I didn't know you were on board.”

"I decided to stay behind after we followed you to Tatooine," Cody explained. "Thought you might appreciate the company; General Kenobi said we wouldn't have new orders for a few days."

"I do appreciate it," Rex admitted. He tugged off his helmet and set on the table in front of him.

Cody’s eyebrows shot up, causing the long scar that framed the left side of his face to distort. “You look like hell, _vod_.”

“I’ve just lost nearly all my men, Cody,” Rex said, dispensing with command formality since they were clearly alone. “I spent days pinned down under fire on Christophsis, crawled up a cliff under heavy fire, had _Asajj Ventress_ try to cozy up in my head, and spent the better part of the last rotation pinned down holding off a battalion of droids. It’s . . .” He ran one gloved hand down his face, “. . . It’s been a long couple of days.”

Cody didn’t reach out; it wasn’t his style. His tone, however, conveyed all his feelings perfectly. “I know.”

Rex appreciated that. He was a captain. A leader. A clone. He had to be rock solid. He couldn’t afford to wallow in self-pity and grief. He needed to get in control again. Still . . . he wasn’t quite sure how. He’d never experienced a defeat this big before. Never dealt with casualties this disproportionate. Not even Geonosis had been this bad for his unit, and that was mostly down to luck. Other units had been entirely wiped out. Some squads had been entirely KIA except for one or two members.

The Republic had called Geonosis a victory too. Just like Teth.

Rex had a different opinion. Sure, they’d rescued the Hutt kid and gotten him back to Jabba just fine, but that didn’t do much for all the dead men that were currently being shipped back to Kamino to be recycled. He hoped those hyperspace lanes were essential to the effort; he really did. He wasn’t sure how he was going to sleep at night if all those lives were wasted on something inconsequential.

Come to that, he wasn’t sure how he was going to sleep at night anyway.

“I just can’t help thinking that this was all for nothing,” he admitted. “In a week’s time I’ll have a company of all new men and we’ll be sent on some other mission and this whole thing is just going to happen again.”

Cody didn’t say anything for a moment. His eyes cast around the room for a moment, as though he were looking for something to let him know what he was supposed to say. “Rex, you know there wasn’t anything you could’ve done.”

“I know. Doesn’t make it any easier.”

“No,” Cody said. “It never does. We’ve all lost brothers we care about. We’ll all lose a lot more before this war is over. But it’s what we were created to do. We’re meant to fight so innocent people don’t get hurt. You know that. I know that. The Jedi know that. The boys know that. Even if you don’t believe in whatever intangible things they tell you are important like hyperspace routes or whatever, you just . . . need to find something to fight for. Something _you_ believe in.”

Rex was surprised. That was a mouthful for Cody, who normally stuck strictly to protocol and spoke in short, clipped sentences.

“What do _you_ believe in?” Rex asked, leaning his forehead onto his hand.

Cody gave a short laugh. “General Kenobi,” he said. When Rex raised an eyebrow, he continued. “He may not always be as involved as General Skywalker, but I know for a fact that he cares about the men under his command. All of us. He treats us like humans. Not just like organic droids. He may not be a clone, but he’s just as much of a brother to me as anyone else. If I can make sure he survives this war, I’ll do it.”

Rex thought about that. Having a brother outside of the _vode_. Rex didn’t really think about Skywalker that way. He was a General and Rex was his Captain. His right-hand man. It wasn’t anything more than that. Yes, he trusted his General with his life and he relied on him one hundred percent. He wasn’t sure if he’d go so far as to say they were brothers. He knew Skywalker liked his emotional space and Rex did his best to give it to him. He felt there were some things about the man he was probably better off not knowing.

“I guess,” Rex said. “I . . . I’ll think about what you said, Cody. Thank you.”

“Anytime. How’re your men doing?”

That’s right. Rex should be more focused on his men than himself. They needed him; now more than ever. “Coric’s doing his best; acting as normal as possible. I can tell all the deaths are weighing on him, though. He was close with Lunn. Zeer’s kept quiet, but he’s got Nax. I think they’ll be okay. Attie’s optimistic, as usual. He and Nax seem to be bonding okay. It’s . . . hard to tell with Del. He was pretty quiet with his emotions before, but _now_ . . . I dunno. Ridge is laid up in the medbay; probably will be for another day or two. Kid got hit by a falling SBD carcass; broke his arm.”

Movement caught Rex’s eye. He lifted his head off his hand, straightened, and glanced toward the door. Ahsoka stood there; half in the room, half out. He wondered how long she’d been there.

“Ah, shit . . .”

Cody turned around in time to see the Jedi dart away. “What?” he asked. “Not impressed with the new Padawan?”

“The opposite, actually,” Rex sighed, dragging a hand over his face. “I think she’s got the right stuff to make it. Especially since she’s a Jedi.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Something you learn quick about Togrutas,” Rex said, “is that they have pretty sensitive hearing. The kid was standing there listening to us for who knows how long. There isn’t much that’s more demoralizing than seeing an officer wallowing in self-pity.”

“Rex,” Cody said, pinning him with a laser-focused stare. “You just lost an entire company. You’re not ‘wallowing in self-pity,’ you’re just dealing with it. As long as it doesn’t affect your leadership, no one has any right to tell you you’re doing the wrong thing. I’m sure the kid can figure that out.”

Rex didn’t really have anything to say to that. He had never thought of himself as anything other than solid. Unmovable. Not unaffected by the losses that piled up around him, but not prone to whatever funk he had gotten himself into at the moment. He shook his head and made to stand up. He needed time to think about everything Cody had said.

But Cody grabbed his arm.

“Oh, no you don’t,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “I know that look. I know you need time to think, but you also need to take care of yourself. Eat. Clean your armor . . . take a trip to the ‘fresher.” Cody offered him a small smirk.

Rex sat back down. “Alright, alright,” he said, knowing better than to argue, “I’ll comply before you make it an order.”

* * *

Ahsoka trudged through the corridor with one destination in mind: the Torrent Company barracks.

She hadn’t meant to spy on Captain Rex’s conversation with the commander – _Cody! That was it_ – it had just kinda happened. Her original intent was just to get something to eat, even if it was bland standard-issue food, but when she saw the Captain sitting there, head-in-hand, looking more dejected and tired than she thought possible, something told her to just stand there and stay quiet. So she had listened.

_You look like hell,_ vod.

_. . . It’s been a long couple of days._

_I just can’t help thinking that this was all for nothing._

_You just . . . need to find something to fight for._

_How're your men doing?_

Everything the two clones had said just kept repeating in her head. She thought she had understood their pain before; she could _feel_ it. But hearing them talk meant something else to her. Putting a feeling into words always made it more real to her for whatever reason. Feelings could be pushed away, ignored. You could pretend feelings didn’t exit. As a Jedi, this was something she had been taught almost since birth. Words, however, were spoken. They were pushed into existence. They could still be ignored, yes, but there was no pretending that you never heard them. At least, Ahsoka could never pretend she hadn’t heard them. She understood now. The men were hurting.

_Her_ men were hurting.

She should do something about that. So, she now found herself standing outside the door that led to the barracks. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the button on the panel to open the door. With a pneumatic hiss, the metal slid upwards into the ceiling and she stepped inside the long room.

None of the five clones in the Torrent Company barracks were wearing their armor. Instead, they had on the form-fitting body gloves they wore beneath the white plastoid pieces that made up their suits and nothing else. One man looked up from rummaging through what seemed to be a medical kit. He had a shaved head and a long scar over his left eye. Ahsoka recognized him as one of the men that had listened to her recounting of pulling the wall down on Skyguy back in the hanger.

That felt like so long ago, but it had only really been a little over a day.

“Commander on deck!” the man shouted. He promptly shoved his kit onto the bed and jumped to his feet, snapping a sharp salute. The other clones mirrored him. One man poked his brother, who appeared to be sleeping. He awoke with a start and stared around, looking extremely confused. Then he spotted Ahsoka and leapt out of bed and into a salute as well.

“At ease,” she said, stepping further into the room.

She looked around. The walls were mostly barren, though there was the odd holoposter here or there. Some were of scenic locations, others were of . . . pin-up girls. Ahsoka blushed and looked elsewhere. On one wall, close to the door, was a set of what appeared to be memorials. They were lists. At the top was a planet name, and below that was a list of names and numbers of all the men that had died in the battles. There were _so many_. They were barely a couple of months into the war. How many men had been lost already? She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer. Little trinkets adorned the lists. A medal here, a personal affect there.

“Do you . . . need something, ma’am?” The voice snapped Ahsoka out of her staring. She snapped around to the speaker: the same clone that had initially noticed her entrance. His voice triggered something in her memory.

_I bet you wish you had a helmet with filters right now, ma’am._

“You’re Coric,” she said, pointing at him.

He looked confused. “. . . Yeah . . . That’s my name, ma’am.”

“I . . . know.” This wasn’t going how she had planned at all. “I . . . wanted to check in on you all. See how you were doing. I know this can’t be easy on you.”

Coric didn’t meet her gaze. “We’ll be alright, ma’am.”

She stepped closer to him. Suddenly something Rex said in the mess hall came back to her. “I’m sorry about Lunn. I’m sorry about _everyone_.”

Coric’s mouth worked for a moment, but no sound seemed to come out. Ahsoka’s peripheral vision detected movement; the other four clones had all drawn closer. “It’s – It’s fine, ma’am. Really.”

“I can sense your pain,” Ahsoka said. She reached up and placed a hand on Coric’s shoulder. He started but didn’t pull away. She looked at the men. “I can sense _all_ your pain. It’s not right if I just ignore it!” She released Coric and turned to one of the other clones. He had listened to her story too, as had the one next to him. “What’s your name?”

“Er, Nax, ma’am.” His hair was blond, like Rex’s, but it wasn’t quite as bleached. It was longer, too, and he had a fine layer of stubble on his face. Human hair. It was something Ahsoka didn’t think she’d _ever_ understand.

“And you?”

“Attie, ma’am.” Attie’s hair was a natural black and was long enough to be slicked back. He had a blue ring tattooed on the right side of his forehead.

“Okay, Attie,” Ahsoka gave her best grin. “What do you do for fun around here?”

Five minutes later, Ahsoka found herself seated at a table in the back of the barracks, already on her second hand of Full System. Coric, Nax, Attie, Zeer, and Del had all joined her, and she’d actually managed to get smiles and even a few laughs out of all of them.

It felt good. They deserved recognition. To be treated as more than just soldiers.

“Do you guys bet on anything when you play?” Ahsoka asked, eyeing her cards.

Zeer shrugged. “Weapon mods, rations, guard duty shifts, Holozines . . . It’s not like we have much.

“Sometimes it’s alcohol,” Attie said.

Del punched him in the shoulder. “Shut up, you’re gonna get us put on probation.”

Ahsoka laughed, waving him off. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

Del looked sheepish. There was a long, crescent scar that ringed the left side of his face, and he wore his hair in the short, double mohawk she had seen on a few clones. Instead of being colored red, however, he’d left it black. “Sorry, ma’am. I’m just not used to . . . well, _this_.”

“Skyguy doesn’t spend much time around you?”

“It’s different,” Coric explained, setting down three cards and taking one from the community pile. “He’s _the General_. He’s always been on the level with us; treats us right. But there’s still a line. If he ever came in here and asked to play a round with us, I’d drink my supply of Bacta.”

That got a laugh out of everyone.

Ahsoka was the first to sober up. “Should I not be here?” she asked, tentatively.

Zeer waved her off. He had what Ahsoka had come to think of as the ‘standard’ clone haircut, though he was working on cultivating an impressive beard. “Nah, I reckon you’ll be fine. I don’t think there’s anything in the regs that says you _can’t_ be here.”

“Will Captain Rex be alright with this?”

Attie shrugged. He picked up a card from the table and scowled. “I don’t doubt it. The Captain’s got a soft spot for you anyway. He wouldn’t kick up a stink.”

Ahsoka leaned forward, her brow furrowing. A soft spot? “What do you mean?”

“Either he really likes you,” Coric said, smirking as he shuffled through his hand, “or he got Jango’s ‘good-with-kids’ gene. Which I’m not sure exists.”

“He’s more patient with you than he ever was with me,” Attie chuckled.

“She hasn’t slipped him neon green hair dye yet,” Del pointed out. “Unlike _you_.”

“It was worth it, though.”

And the table devolved into laughter again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kinda fluffy, but it's character-building fluff I promise. Plus the gang needs a break after losing an entire company.
> 
> RIP to Battlefront 2, which got its final content update today.
> 
> If you're curious about what Nax, Attie, Zeer, Del, and Coric look like, I tracked down some fanart that I think is pretty good. Also features Ridge, Lunn, Hez, Ayar, Vaize, and Ged. Plus some lads that'll show up later.  
> Link: https://finuiwen.tumblr.com/post/122877709691/torrent-company-stand-to-featured-in-clone
> 
> There's also a comic that looks to be from the same artist that shows a portion of Rex and the boys' courtyard last stand that's pretty cool.  
> Link: https://www.deviantart.com/toxo/art/Just-like-that-Holovid-530140976


	8. A New Dawn

**Republic Cruiser _Spirit of the Republic_ , over Coruscant**

Rex – freshly showered, fed, and rested – sat at the desk in his personal quarters. After his meeting with Cody in the mess hall, Rex had taken a walk around the ship to have some private time and think things over. Cody had said a mouthful, and there was plenty in there he needed to wade through and process. He’d found himself staring out the window of one of the upper decks and into the blackness of space. They’d come out of hyperspace and ended up in the Coruscant system. They must not currently be needed on another front. Good. Rex didn’t know if he could handle another tumultuous mission with such a depleted number of men. They were probably here for that, too. Shinies.

With that thought in his head, Rex didn’t think he’d be able to properly go through the events of the last few days, so he gave it up. He’d returned to his quarters to clean himself up, as well as to get started on and finish his mission report. And fill out and sign off on the death reports for each man in Torrent Company. It was a lengthy process. And a painful one at that. Some of these men had been around since Geonosis. Since training on Kamino. And now they were gone and he had to list their number, their name, and - when applicable - how they had been killed. It wasn't work that put Rex in a good headspace He was just filling out the last one – Ayar – when he heard the door slide open.

“General,” he said, looking up, “I –”

It wasn’t General Skywalker. It was Ahsoka.

“Easy, Rex,” she said, raising a hand when she saw he was about to stand at attention. She stepped down the short set of stairs and into Rex’s quarters. She glanced around, eyeing up the room. He wasn’t sure what he expected – he didn’t have much. His desk – stacked with datapads, his freshly-cleaned helmet, and a terminal connected to the HoloNet – sat pretty much in the center of the room. Beside the door, there was a set of lockers with his gear stashed in it. Set into the right wall was his captain’s bunk. Not much bigger nor much comfier than the regulation bunks the other troops got, but he wasn’t complaining. On the left wall, there was a door that led to Rex’s own personal refresher. _That_ was something he was thankful for. That was about it.

“Aren’t you supposed to knock?” Rex did his best to give her a smile but barely managed it.

“I sensed your inner turmoil from halfway down the hall,” Ahsoka said, fixing him with those big, blue eyes of hers. “Figured it was safe to come in. What have you been doing?”

Rex gestured to the pile of ‘pads on his desk, simultaneously setting the one in his hands next to all the rest. “Finishing the after-action reports. And the, er, casualty listings.”

Ahsoka circled around his desk and leaned down next to him. Her expression was somber. “I’m . . . sorry about your men, Rex. I really am.”

Rex sighed and leaned back in his chair, passing one gloved hand over his eyes. At this rate, it was going to become a familiar maneuver. “I know, kid. I know.” It didn’t make the loss any easier, but the words were nice to hear.

“I visited the men. We talked,” she said. “Played cards.”

“You what?” Rex looked up at her, dumbstruck. The idea of a _Jedi_ sitting around and playing cards with his boys was enough to give him pause. Even if said Jedi was only a kid.

“We talked,” Ahsoka reiterated, looking a little nervous at his reaction, “and played cards.”

“Did they make you bet anything?” Rex needed to know. It sounded like something Attie would do.

“No!” Nervousness: gone. “It was actually pretty nice. I got to know them all a bit better. I just thought it was the least I could do, since . . . since I know what the job entails.” Because she knew it was their job to die for her. Rex stared at her, unable to speak for a moment. He doubted she truly understood what that would mean to the men. What it meant to him.

“I’m . . . I’m sure they appreciated that,” he said at last, staring at her.

“Yeah! They – hello? Planetside to Rex. Come in, Rex.” She snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. Apparently, he’d been staring too hard.

“Sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s –”

“Been a long couple of days?”

Damn it. He wondered when that would come up.

He sighed. “How much did you hear?”

“Most of it,” Ahsoka said, glancing away. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been eavesdropping.”

“It’s alright, kid,” Rex said, giving a faint smile. “Just don’t make a habit out of it, huh?”

“No promises.” She smirked. For a moment, she looked as though she was going to reach out to him. "Listen, if you need to talk about anything -"

Then the door slid open. They both looked up, caught off-guard. Three clones were standing in the doorway. Two of them had pristine armor posture stiffer than plastoid. Shinies. The third trooper, the one in the center, had armor marred by a few scars and burn marks that had never quite come out. He was certainly a veteran by now. There were 501st blue stripes down his arms and across his helmet. Two diagonal stripes streaked downwards from his visor

“Sir! Ma’am!” said the one in the center, saluting. The other two followed suit.

“At ease, trooper,” Rex said, half saluting back. “What’s your business here?” As if he didn’t already know.

“Replacements, sir,” the trooper said. “Two platoons’ worth. According to command, there’s more on the way, but we’re all you’ve got for now. The others are waiting for you in the barracks.”

“I see.” Rex stood; sighed. Time to meet all the new faces.

“What’re your names?” Ahsoka asked.

The trooper in the center gestured to himself. “I’m Denal, ma’am. This is Redeye and Mixer.”

“It’s good to meet you,” Ahsoka said. “C’mon, Rex! Let’s go meet the boys.”

* * *

Padawan – _Commander_ – Tano was . . . _strange_ Denal decided. Good strange? Bad strange? He wasn’t sure yet. But she wasn’t anything like he’d thought she’d be. Then again, he didn’t exactly have a metric to measure Jedi against other than what the Kaminoans had told him.

And that wasn’t much a reference point for anything.

He knew that much. Part of that was due to the hours he spent scanning the HoloNet, and part of that was due to an older _vod_ named Wire, who taught him everything he knew about slicing and finding out things the Kaminoans didn’t want him to know.

Most of that included casualty reports, different cultures, and access to knowledge that was supposed to be forbidden to him. But there was also the Jedi. Denal had thought of them as aloof, emotionless, and invincible. An opinion that had only been reinforced on Geonosis, where the Jedi had fearlessly led the clones into battle against overwhelming odds. Into a slaughterhouse. However, the fourteen-year-old that walked – _bounced, more like_ – just ahead of him, step-for-step with his new Captain, was a contradiction of everything he thought about the Jedi before now.

She was . . . happy. Exuberant. Friendly.

Strange.

Behind him, he knew Redeye and Mixer were thinking along the same lines as him. Probably discussing it over a private channel, too. Ahead of him, the Captain and Commander turned as the door on the left opened, admitting them into the room that Denal knew to be the barracks. He and the other two clones followed them inside.

“Ah, good of you two to make it,” said the voice of the young general. He was standing just beside the door, looking deeper into the barracks where two platoons of clones in shiny, new armor stood at attention. His arms were folded across his chest and his expression was conflicted, though he couldn’t discern what emotions were warring within him.

“Sorry, General Skywalker,” Captain Rex said, standing at parade rest.

“We’re here now, Skyguy,” Commander Tano said, her hands on her hips.

Denal, Redeye, and Mixer stood in the doorway. He kept his posture as stiff as possible; there was no telling just how strict of a general Skywalker was. Better safe than sorry. The General kept his attention on all the new troops lining the barracks. There were so many empty beds. Denal felt his stomach turn. How many men had they lost on their last campaign? Was it his destiny to join the list of names he spied on the memorial on one of the walls within a few weeks of being deployed? What kind of casualty rates did Skywalker have? He’d have to do some slicing later.

“Welcome,” General Skywalker said, addressing the new men assembled before him, “to the five hundred and first legion. As you can see, there are . . . a lot of shoes that need filled. I expect that all of you are up to the task. I’m Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker – your general. This is clone Captain Rex – your CO. And this is Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano – my Padawan learner and second-in-command. Torrent Company has the reputation of being some of the best men in the Grand Army, as I’m sure you all know. I expect all of you to perform at the level of those who came before you. I am aware that these are high expectations, but I have the utmost faith in all of you to meet and even exceed them.”

Captain Rex stepped forward. “I’ve served with General Skywalker since the start of the war,” he said. “We haven’t known each other very long, but I trust him completely. He is a man that cares about those under his command and does his best to get everyone home at the end of the day.”

Denal looked Rex up and down. He hadn’t been familiar with him. At Geonosis, they’d both been serving in different theaters and Denal wasn’t familiar with Rex or his command. The man had a reputation, though, and having a reputation this early in the war was something in and of itself. If Captain Rex gave General Skywalker his seal of approval, that was good enough for Denal. He’d still be doing his research, though.

“Sergeants,” Skywalker said. “If you would step forward, please.”

Several clones emerged from the crowd, lining up before the Jedi and Captain Rex.

“What are your names?” asked Commander Tano.

“CT-three-two-one-four. Coric, ma’am,” said one with marred armor, nodding to the Padawan.

“CS-one-oh-oh-four, ma’am. Kano.”

“CS-two-two-oh-seven. Boomer.”

“CT-one-one-one-nine.” Coric nudged him. “Appo, sirs. Ma’am.”

A few others stepped forward, listing their numbers and names as well.

General Skywalker stepped forward. “I want to get to know you. To get to know your men. I want to know what you expect of me as a leader and I want you to know what I expect from you. I want no miscommunication between us.”

Denal was dumbfounded. He’d never heard a Jedi say _that_ before. Skywalker was treating his men like they were actual _people_. That would take some getting used to. Not that he was complaining, of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a short chapter, but it's a wrap-up. Introducing some clones that'll come in plenty later and some set up for other things.


	9. Evasion

**Rishi outpost, Rishi Moon**

CT-5555 – _Fives_ – rested his jaw on his gloved hand as he stared into the viewscreen he’d barely looked up from for the past hour; half paying attention, half not. His eyes were starting to blur. He blinked, straightening and looking back as he heard one of the doors slide open. He didn’t want to be caught half awake at his post. Again. But it was only Echo, walking into the room with his customary datapad in one hand. _He’s probably reading the reg manuals. Again._ In the center of the circular room, Hevy and Cutup were in the middle of an intense arm-wrestling match while the hologram of an announcer droid swayed back and forth to a relaxing tune before them.

“You’re listening to the Grand Army of the Republic Broadcast, the voice of the Outer Rim,” the droid intoned in a husky, feminine tone. “This next one goes out to the mudjumpers of the two-twenty-fourth, slugging it out on Mimban. Keep your heads down and your seals tight, boys.”

_Bang._

“Ha-HA! Yes!” Hevy said, throwing his fist into the air after pinning Cutup’s arm to the control panel between them. “Who’s next? Fives?”

Fives looked up and was about to answer ‘yes.’ Anything to distract him from the mind-numbing boredom he was now experiencing would be nice. Even if Hevy had already beaten him twice in a row. Echo, however, had a different perspective.

“Uh, shouldn’t you be watching your scope, Hevy?” the man asked, pausing beside them and raising a disapproving eyebrow.

“Yeah, let’s take a look,” Hevy said with mocking enthusiasm, slapping a button on the control panel and activating his scope. “Hmm, whaddaya know? All clear. Just like the last hundred times I looked at it.”

Good old Hevy.

“Personally,” Echo said, “I like that it’s so quiet out here. I can –”

“– Catch up on the reg manuals,” Fives muttered.

“– Catch up on the reg manuals.”

“Echo, what is wrong with you?” Hevy chided. Fives sensed the old argument was going to come up. “We should be out on the front lines blasting droids.”

“Ah, leave him alone,” smirked Cutup in his distinct lilt. “They kept him in his growth jar too long.”

“Yeah.” The two broke into a bought of chuckles while Echo scowled, returning to staring at his datapad. Then, Hevy turned his attention back to Fives. “You, ah, may not realize it yet, Fives, but you landed on the most boring post in the Outer Rim.”

“And one of the most important.”

Stang.

Cutup fumbled with his control panel, shutting off the music.

“Attention! Sergeant on deck!” Echo shouted, snapping to attention.

Hevy, Cutup, Droidbait, Nub, and Fives all mimicked him.

“At ease,” said Sergeant O’Niner, his tone gruff and his posture perfect. He walked toward the center of the room, addressing all of them. “Even though you’re all new here, I shouldn’t have to remind you that this quadrant is key to the Outer Rim. If the droids get past this station, they can surprise-attack the facilities where we were born on our homeworld of Kamino. There are some officers on the way, so I want everything squared away for inspection. Understood?”

“Sir, yes, sir!” cried all six troopers in the room.

There wasn’t time for anymore lecturing, luckily, because the sensor array that Fives had looked up from suddenly started blaring its attention-grabbing klaxon. Fives whirled around, momentarily caught off-guard, and eyed the display.

“Sir, incoming meteor shower,” he reported.

“Raise the shield.”

Fives sat back down at his station and pressed one of the numerous buttons before him. There was a low humming sound which he knew meant that the facility’s shields were being raised.

“You wanted excitement, Hevy,” Cutup said.

“Right. Ooh, meteor shower.” Fives could almost hear Hevy rolling his eyes.

Moments later, Fives heard the _thrum-thrum-thrum_ of immense objects pinging off the base’s shields. Reflexively, he grabbed the console. The logical side of his brain knew that there was no way the shields were going to fail, but looking out the window and actually being able to see the things rocketing down towards them before dissipating into thin air didn’t help his mood. Fives sat back in his chair and shut his eyes, no longer wanting to look.

“Scared, Fives?” his eyes shot open again and he turned to see Hevy standing there, a knowing smirk on his face.

“What? No, of course not,” Fives protested. “I just don’t like the noise.”

“Uh-huh.” Hevy turned away, clearly not convinced.

Fives sighed, knowing any more protests would be a lost cause. He turned back to his console and determinately looked anywhere but outside, trying to ignore the sounds of space rocks exploding into the ground around the outpost; so loud they sounded like bombs going off.

When it was finally over, Fives breathed a small sigh of relief.

“CT-three-two seven, report in,” O’Niner said, holding up his wrist commlink to his mouth. It was customary for him to check in with the deck officer after every meteor shower, just to ensure everything had gone smoothly outside. This time, though, he was met with silence. “Sentry, do you copy?”

Still, nothing.

“Interference from the meteors?” Echo wondered aloud, turning to look at his CO.

Fives activated the scopes on his console, scanning the outer landing platform. No sign of the deck officer anywhere. Strange. “I don’t see him down there, Sarge.”

“You two, go find him.”

Fives glanced back and saw Droidbait and Nub jump to their feet, grab their helmets and run toward the front of the base. He chuckled. Seems like they were as anxious as him for something – _anything_ – to do. The clone outside had probably just lost track of time and fallen asleep at his post, and if the meteor shower really had interfered with their comms, he had no way to know he was being hailed. He’d be cleaning the ‘freshers for the next week.

That’s when everything went wrong.

“Droids!”

The sounds of blaster fire erupted from the passage outside, sending Fives and every other clone rocketing to their feet. As Fives jammed his helmet onto his head, Sergeant O’Niner mimicked him, picking up a DC-15 and bolting for the passage leading to the outside. Echo, helmetless, stayed where he was.

“Sound the alarm!” O’Niner called.

Fives, Hevy, and Cutup reached Echo just as he looked up from the control panel on the wall. “They’ve disabled the beacon!” Fives peered down into the staircase below, where he saw O’Niner taking cover in an alcove as several BX Commando Droids pinned him with blaster fire.

“Get a message to the fleet!” the Sergeant said. “We have to warn – Ah!”

He was cut off as the commando droids surged forward, one blaster bolt catching him in the leg. Fives felt as though he were frozen in place as three of the droids hovered over the older clone, blasters raised. One kicked his deece away before all three opened fire at point blank range.

He was gone.

“Sarge!” Echo cried. He looked as though he were about to do something stupid, so Fives grabbed his arm and tugged as he and the others sprinted away from the passage. Echo stumbled for a moment but was right on his heels when Fives looked back. The four clones surged back into the command center. Cutup paused at the door, slamming his fist into the ‘close’ button. Without pausing, he tore open the panel and ripped out as much of the internal wiring as he could.

“That should slow those buckets down,” he said.

Echo, ever resourceful, grabbed his own helmet – with a set of red electrobinnoculars attached – and slammed it onto his head before sprinting across the room and prying open a grate leading to one of the base’s air ducts.

“This way, hurry!” he called, waving the others over before disappearing inside. Fives followed without a second thought, Cutup right beside him. He skidded to a stop and crouched beside the vent, allowing Cutup to enter first. He glanced back at Hevy, who was still standing by the door. What the hell was he thinking?

“No, we can –”

He was cut off when the door began to spark. The droids were cutting their way in.

“There’s too many!” Fives shouted waving his brother onward. There was no way he was going to let him die doing something so stupid. Thankfully, Hevy relented and followed, though not before grabbing a DC-17 sidearm resting on one of the consoles. As Hevy crouched and entered the vent, Fives followed him, carefully replacing the vent cover before crawling deeper into the tube. With any luck, they would get away and formulate some kind of plan, and the droids would have no idea where they’d disappeared to.

_O’Niner’s dead. Nub’s dead._

_Droidbait’s dead._

“The others . . .” Echo said, mirroring Five’s thoughts. His voice came in loud and clear over a private comm frequency.

“I know,” Hevy said.

“I really didn’t think this’d be like training,” Cutup murmured. It was true. Back on Kamino, Droidbait had always been hit first. Been wounded first. Gotten ‘killed’ first. Now that they had been deployed, his luck hadn’t changed a bit. It never would. He was gone. Domino Squad was down a man before they’d even had a chance to fight a proper battle.

“We have to keep moving,” Hevy ordered. “Keep fighting. It’s what he’d want us to do. Sarge and Nub, too.”

“Sentry’s probably dead as well,” Fives said. If the droids had come from the landing pad and Sentry hadn’t reported in, he must not have been able to. Droids didn’t usually take prisoners. Nobody said anything. What more was there to say?

They crawled along the passage in complete silence for another five minutes before Echo – in the lead – kicked open a second grate and jumped out, landing on a rocky path a few meters below. Cutup, Hevy, and Fives all followed, landing in a little cluster. Hevy started walking, as though he knew where to go. Fives followed, more out of curiosity than anything. Did he have a plan?

“What do we do without the Sarge?” he asked.

Echo, predictably, answered from behind him. “The reg manual says the next –”

“Wait, wait!” Hevy held up one hand and everyone stopped. He looked out over the cliff before them. “Did you hear that?” Fives – and everyone else – stopped and peer out along with him. Nobody breathed. A faint hiss carried on the wind, along with the strange sound of earth moving.

“Yeah,” Fives muttered, “what is that?”

“It doesn’t sound like droids,” Cutup said, nervousness creeping into his voice.

There was a low rumbling sound.

“Don’t forget about those giant eels,” Hevy said, poking Fives in the chestplate.

He almost rolled his eyes. Sure, the manual they’d all read about the Rishi Moon had warned them about the huge eels that supposedly lived in the tunnels that dotted the moon’s surface. But that was a load of crap. Fives had _never_ heard or even seen one of the things. Not even any evidence. Nor had anyone else at the base.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen –”

Someone screamed from behind him. Fives whirled around, reaching instinctively for the blaster pistol that didn’t exist at his side. Echo stood behind him, immobilized. He looked up. A _huge_ wormlike creature was protruding from one of the tunnels just above them, looming over the clones like the shadow of Death itself. In between the four massive mandibles that lined its mouth, wriggling and screaming, was Cutup.

“Cutup!” Fives shouted, knowing it would do no good. From behind him, he heard the sound of a blaster pistol firing and knew that Hevy must have drawn his sidearm in an attempt to save their squad mate. One of Hevy’s shots made contact, but the beast didn’t even flinch. Instead, it paused, looking at them for a moment, before turning and slithering into another tunnel just below them, Cutup still screaming in its mouth.

“Wh-What the _hell_ was that?” Hevy shouted.

“Uh, that was an eel,” Echo said, stuttering. “Now, that’s why we have the regulation _not_ to go outside.”

“Let’s move before it comes back,” Hevy ordered, setting off further down the ridge. Not knowing what else to do, Fives followed him, reeling at the fact that they had lost four men in less than half an hour.

Echo sighed. “Poor Cutup . . .”

A strange sound caught Fives’ attention, and he jerked his head up. If that eel came back now, they were all dead. Instead, framed against the glittering night sky, he saw a _Nu_ -class Attack Shuttle descending toward the landing pad, its wings retracting as it drew closer to the base.

“Look!” he shouted, pointing upward. “It’s Commander Cody. It’s the inspection team!”

_ _ _

Captain Rex sat in the pilot’s seat of a _Nu_ -class shuttle, operating the thing almost on autopilot as his mind wandered to the events of the past two weeks. His encounter with Representative Jar Jar Binks on Mimban, the rescue mission to JanFathal, the replacements, the deaths of Ince and Vere, his conversation with Ahsoka in the mess hall, the fiasco his Jedi had participated in regarding the _Malevolence_ , the string of inspections he’d been assigned to carry out with Commander Cody in order to ‘get him away from the field’ for a while.

There was a lot on his mind.

_You just . . . need to find something to fight for._

_The clones are just slaves._

_I love my brothers! You’re just too blind to see it!_

_The world’s full of attachment. I just don’t know why it’s only wrong for Jedi._

_I will_ not _be made a Separatist bargaining chip! Continue your attack!_

_Admiral, order our ships to stop firing._

_Do you understand the dark side?_

_What’s the difference between Jedi who fall to the dark side . . . and Jedi who just let bad things happen on their watch?_

_I’m pretty sure that other soldiers have families and lives outside of fighting. We don’t._

_We don’t._

_We don’t._

“Rishi outpost, this is Commander Cody,” Cody said from his position from just behind Rex, sounding bored out of his mind. This was just another in a series of outposts they’d been sent to check up on. It always ended up the same way. Show up, consult with the commanding officer, scare some shinies, check to make sure everything was up to code, get onto the next one. “Rishi outpost, please respond . . . Rishi outpost, come in. Rishi outpost, _come in_.”

He was getting annoyed now, Rex could tell. Well, this was off to a good start.

Suddenly the viewscreen before Rex flickered to life. The image of a clone’s helmet filled the screen. “Sorry, Commander,” said the clone, slowly. “We’re, um, experiencing technical difficulties.”

Rex felt Cody lean over his shoulder to get a better look. “This is the inspection team”

“Inspection?” the trooper on the view screen looked about erratically. “Negative, _negative_. We, uh, do not require inspection. Everything is fine here. Thank you.”

“ _We’ll_ be the judge of that,” Cody said. “Prepare for our arrival.”

“Roger, roger.” The link went dead.

That was . . . weird. Rex’s eyebrows knitted together. “Something’s not right here,” he said. The way the trooper had talked was wrong. Like he had no idea about protocol and was just making up everything he said on the spot. And he’d said ‘roger, roger’ like a droid would. Was he mocking them? He just had a . . . _feeling_.

“Well, good luck,” Cody said, smirking. “I’m puttin’ _you_ in charge of this one.”

Great.

Actually, maybe it really was great. Maybe getting to kick a bunch of incompetent shinies in the shebs was just he distraction he needed from the mess of thoughts whirling around inside his head. Rex piloted the shuttle down into the moon’s atmosphere and headed toward the coordinates for the outpost they’d been provided.

There it was – a huge, blocky structure with an immense satellite resting atop it. The last line of defense before Kamino.

Rex began the landing sequence and alighted on the base’s landing platform. He reached below his chair and snatched up his helmet and DC-15. He wasn’t expecting any trouble, but it was protocol to carry a weapon on him at all times. He hit the seat controls and felt a strange sensation in his stomach as he was quickly lowered into the exit bay just below him. He heard the sounds of Cody doing the same.

He set his helmet over his head, checked his deece’s charge, and hit the door controls. The exit ramp descended before him, allowing him and Cody to disembark the shuttle and step foot on the outpost’s landing pad. They began their trek across the long passage toward the base.

“This is not good,” Cody remarked, looking around. “I don’t see the deck officer anywhere.”

“These boys are sloppy,” Rex muttered. “There should always be an officer on duty.” He made a mental note to add that to the other offense of attempting to cancel an inspection at the last possible second in his final report.

Ahead of them, the base’s front entrance slid open and a clone trooper – _weaponless_ – began making his way over to them.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Cody muttered.

The trooper met them halfway between their ship and the base. “Welcome to Rishi, Commander,” he said in a strange, stilted voice. “As you can see, the outpost is operating at peak efficiency. Thank you for visiting, and have a safe trip back.” The entire time he talked, the trooper made strange gesticulations with both his hands, as though trying to use some kind of sign language.

He and Cody glanced at each other. Something was _definitely_ up.

“We need to inspect the base just the same,” Cody said, taking a step toward the shiny.

The trooper stood in their way, raising both hands. “Uh, there is no need. Everything is fine and fully operational.”

Rex had enough of this. “Take us to the sergeant in command,” he ordered, stepping forward.

“Roger, roger.”

There was a loud screeching noise behind them. Rex and Cody both whirled around, eyes cast to the sky. A blinding, red flare soared into the night sky.

“A droid attack flare?”

Without a second thought, Rex brought up his DC-15 and shot the ‘trooper’ right in the head.

Cody whipped around. “Woah! Rex! _What are you doing_?”

Rex dropped to the ground and grabbed the helmet of the dead ‘trooper.’ “Relax,” he said, pulling it off and revealing the head of one of the new BX Commando Droids. “Just as I thought.” Meaning the droids had attacked the base and taken the whole thing over.

“That flare must have come from the survivors,” Cody surmised, following Rex’s train of thought.

Suddenly, there were blasters firing all around them.

“Ambush!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've got no idea what Rex is talking about during his internal monologue, he's referencing the events of the novel 'No Prisoners.' I know it's the third book in the series, but chronologically I thought it made more sense occurring right after the movie because of how Ahsoka acts and the fact that Rex is lugging around a bunch of shinies. It really should still be canon.


	10. Together

**Rishi outpost, Rishi Moon**

Fives watched in dismay as the platform above exploded in a ball of fire. The inspection team’s shuttle was suddenly hurtling down towards the ground below at an alarming speed.

“Take cover!” Hevy ordered diving behind a cluster of rocks. Fives and Echo quickly followed his lead, concealing their bodies as best they could to avoid the shower of flames and falling debris that struck the ground not far from their position.

“There’s no way anyone survived that!” Fives gasped, standing once he was sure no more falling objects were likely to rain down upon them.

“Let me check.” Echo stood up beside him, lowering his helmet’s electrobinnoculars and scanning the wreckage from afar. “No . . . I don’t see anyone. I think we’re done f– wait! Up there!” He pointed. Fives looked upwards to see two clones hanging from repel cables off of the remains of the landing pad. The began lowering themselves to the ground below. Relief flooded his system. They hadn’t been too late.

“C’mon!” Hevy waved them forward, vaulting over a rock and sprinting towards the crash site. “We need to meet up with them!”

Fives and Echo were hot behind him a moment later, but the group slowed once they reached the flaming inferno of the shuttle. Better to be careful picking through wreckage just in case some of it was unstable. They started hearing voices.

“No worse than that time on Tibrin.”

“We had Jedi with us on Tibrin. They helped.”

Two figures appeared through the haze of smoke before them. One Fives recognized as Commander Cody. The other figure was another clone. Fives couldn’t make out much of his armor detailing, but he saw the kama he wore around his waist, the winged pauldron that extended over his left shoulder and the rangefinder attached to the right side of his helmet. _He must be some other officer_.

Cody and the other clone caught sight of them. Instantly, they drew their weapons.

“Hands above your heads,” the unidentified officer ordered. “Take your sun bonnets off.”

Surprised at the hostile treatment, but unwilling to get shot over nothing, Fives raised his hands above his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hevy and Echo doing the same.

“Uh . . . sir?” asked Echo, voicing all of their sentiments.

“Take ‘em off! Now!” his tone brokered no arguments. Fives reached up and removed his helmet, revealing his face. Echo and Hevy mirrored him. This seemed to satisfy the two officers, as they lowered their blasters.

They only relaxed for a fraction of a second, however, as an eel – maybe even the same one that had taken Cutup – suddenly burst from a tunnel above their heads and towered over them. Oh, stang. Fives and Echo were weaponless and Hevy’s pistol barely did anything to the creature last time. It was going to –

The unknown clone raised his blaster and fired once in a swift motion. The bolt hit the eel straight in the eye and it crumpled, falling to the ground in a heap. Fives gaped. _That_ was impressive. Hevy stepped forward as the officer removed his helmet and knelt before the dead eel, placing one hand in a pool of blue blood now leaking from its head.

“Nice shot . . .” Hevy said approvingly.

“The name’s Rex.” The officer straightened, turned around. “But you’ll call me ‘Captain’ or ‘Sir.’” He approached the three clones with Commander Cody.

“Sir, yes, sir!” they chorused, stiffening.

“I’m Commander Cody, your new boss.” The Commander removed his helmet as well.

“My designation is trooper two-seven dash five-five-five-five, sir,” Fives piped up. Yes, it was repetitive, but it was still how he had been trained to introduce himself to superior officers.

“We call him Fives,” Hevy explained. “I’m Hevy. This is Echo.”

“Where’s your sergeant?” asked Commander Cody.

Echo looked down. “Dead, sir. We’re all that’s left.”

“Looks like we got ourselves a batch of shinies, Commander,” Captain Rex said, smirking.

“Shinies, sir?” Echo asked. Fives rolled his eyes.

“That’s right,” the Captain said. “Your armor. It’s shiny and new. Just like you.” At the last phrase, he slapped the hand covered in eel blood on Echo’s chest plate. When he pulled it away, and blue mark shaped like a hand print remained on Echo’s armor.

“Sir,” Hevy said, drawing everyone’s attention. “Me and my batchers are trained and ready. We’ll take back our post, shiny or not.”

Captain Rex turned, smiling earnestly now. “There’s hope for you yet, rookie.”

_ _ _

Fives had witnessed – _and been a part of_ – plenty of crazy plans before. Mostly thanks to Hevy. But this took the top spot in his book.

Captain Rex sauntered up to the outpost’s entrance, looking as though he had a blaster shoved up his shebs, attempting to imitate the commando droids, which could apparently mimic the voices of clone troopers and impersonate them.

“Unit two-six, is that you?” came a robotic voice over the speaker.

“Roger, roger,” the Captain nodded.

“You sound strange. Is something wrong with your vocabulator?”

Captain Rex grabbed at his throat and shifted. “Roger, roger.”

“Take off your helmet. Let me see your faceplate.”

“Roger, roger.” Captain Rex held his hands to his helmet and ducked out of the camera’s view. A moment later, he held up the head of a dead commando droid that Hevy had pried off one of the ‘corpses’ that remained on the landing platform.

Commander Cody, held one hand to his helmet and shook his head. “This is never gonna work . . .” he muttered.

But he was wrong. A moment later, the door slid open, revealing three commando droids who looked intensely surprised to see the five clones all armed with blasters waiting for them outside. “Clones!”

“Roger. Roger.” Rex blasted the first droid. Fives and Commander Cody moved simultaneously, darting around the door frame and blasting the other two before they could even react. “Right. Let’s move.”

The group surged into the base, down the passage and up the stairs leading to the command center. They paused outside the door.

“Permission to take point, sir?” Hevy asked. _He_ would _want to go first, wouldn't he?_

“ _I’m_ always first, kid,” Rex said before rushing up a second staircase and into the room, sidearm raised and already firing by the time Fives and the others reached the top. Either he was suicidal or _very_ good at what he did. Maybe both.

Fives formed up on the door, his brothers flanking him on either side, and began firing. He’d only gotten a few shots of when something _pinged_ off his left bicep and pain shot through his entire arm. He gasped, barely retaining his balance as he stumbled back behind cover.

“Fives!” Hevy shouted.

“He’s okay,” Commander Cody said. “Focus on the battle.”

Fives was fine. He knew he was fine. It was just a glancing blow. He shook himself and got to his feet, motioning to Echo. He nodded. Fives, Echo, and Commander Cody rushed into the room, all firing. Fives glimpsed Captain Rex in close-quarters combat with a commando droid that had pulled out a vibrosword, but didn’t have time to dwell on it. He pulled up his blaster and poured three shots into what seemed to be the last remaining droid the exact second that Echo did the same.

“I got one!” Echo shouted.

“Sorry, Echo,” Fives countered. “ _I_ junked that one.”

“Like hell you did.”

Fives snorted, then reached up and pulled off his helmet. His brothers were moving about, securing the room. Hevy walked over to one of the droids lying on the ground. “Not so tough now, are you, Sparky?”

“Get to the window,” Commander Cody ordered. There was something in his voice that Fives didn’t like. “It looks like we have more visitors.”

Everyone rushed to comply, quickly ascending a narrow staircase on one side of the room that led to the observation deck. As they formed up, Fives saw Echo slam his helmet onto his head and lower his electrobinnoculars, peering up into the still-dark sky.

“It looks like a Separatist fleet,” he said, his voice low and worried. He removed his helmet again.

“That’s why they commandeered the outpost,” Commander Cody said. “They’re mounting a full-scale invasion.”

“We have to warn command,” Captain Rex said.

Echo darted back down to the main floor of the command center and began frantically pressing buttons and keying in codes on the main terminal. After a few seconds, he called up.

“Those clankers sabotaged our transmitter,” he said, “and they hard-wired the all-clear signal. It’ll take some time to repair.”

“We don’t have time.” Captain Rex said, staring down at him.

“Look.”

Fives peered up through the transparasteel window. What he saw made his heart sink. A Separatist transport was slowly descending toward the base. Those things carried at least a battalion of droids. There was no way the five of them were gonna be able to stand up to that without reinforcements.

“Well, buddy,” he glanced at Hevy, “you always said you wanted to be on the front lines.”

“We can’t protect the outpost long against that army of clankers,” Commander Cody said, echoing Fives’ thoughts.

“Then we’ll destroy the outpost instead,” Captain Rex said. Everyone turned their eyes on him. Shock filled the room.

“But, sir,” Echo called up from below, “our mission is to defend this facility at all costs.”

“We have to warn the Republic about the invasion,” the Captain maintained. “They’ll take notice when the all-clear signal stops.”

“That’s right,” Fives said, catching on. “When they stop receiving the beacon, they’ll get the message something’s wrong.” He was liking this captain more and more by the minute.

“We’ll need every thermal detonator in the inventory,” Captain Rex said, one hand on his chin. Fives almost scoffed, but thought better of it. Better not mouth off to a CO. Hevy, on the other hand, had no qualms about doing just that.

“It’ll take more than a few detonators to destroy this outpost,” he said emphatically.

“We can use the LT,” piped up Echo. Everyone looked down. “This moon freezes for over half the year. We use liquid tibanna as fuel to heat the base.”

“Liquid tibanna: highly explosive,” Commander Cody said.

“Good. Bring the tanks here and prime the detonators,” Rex ordered.

And they were off.

_ _ _

Rex stood before the shinies – now not quite so shiny anymore – and did his best to give a rousing speech. He was good at that. Today, right now, he _did_ have something to fight for. Something tangible, if only for a moment.

Home.

“Alright, listen up,” he said to the three boys in front of him. “There’s only one target of interest in this sector: Kamino. It’s the closest thing we clones have to a home. Today we fight for more than the Republic. Today we fight for all our brothers back home. Understood?”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

Fives, Hevy, and Cody hit the armory, gathering weapons and supplies, while Rex and Echo grabbed the liquid tibanna and three Plunk droids, all of which they brought to the command center to be rigged to blow. While Rex and Echo worked on setting everything up, Cody and the others went to the front entrance to give their metal guests a warm welcome.

Echo scurried about the main console, setting up connections and wiping all essential data, just in case. Rex was busy linking the explosives they’d set on the three Plunk droids to a datapad that would serve as their remote detonator. There were some issues. The sounds of blaster fire were getting closer and closer by the second.

“Rex, time’s wasting,” Cody came in over the commlink, his voice tight.

“Almost ready,” he assured him, doing his best to put on a calm demeanor.

Seconds later, Fives appeared, followed by Cody and Hevy. Rex smacked one of the droids, then tried for the fifth time to link the two devices. Nothing.

“The handset isn’t linking up with the detonator,” he said. He looked up. “Hevy.”

“Yes, sir.”

“This detonator isn’t working,” he said, holding out the ‘pad for the younger clone to take. Hevy seemed to like heavy weapons and explosions. If anyone could get this working, it’d probably be him. _Experience is the best confidence booster_. The kid would probably get a real kick out of blowing this place sky high and saving an entire generation of clones.

“I’ll take care of it,” Hevy assured him, releasing his Z6 rotary canon and taking the ‘pad from Rex. “It’ll be fixed in no time. You guys get out of here.” He needed to trust him. Rex nodded, jogging over to where Cody, Fives, and Echo stood around a grate to the ventilation system. Apparently, they’d used it to escape the base the first time. _Clever_.

“Just make it fast,” he said. “Those droids are getting close.”

Fives yanked the grate off the wall and Rex bent down to climb inside. Cody followed him. Then Echo. Then Fives, who left the grate open for Hevy. Rex focused on getting out as fast as possible, squirming as his armor bumped against the tight confines of the vent. A twist here, a turn there. He grinned to himself under his helmet. Wait until Skywalker and Ahsoka hear about this one. _Me, Cody, and three rookies blow up our own base and save Kamino. Yeah, the General and the kid’ll definitely enjoy this one._ He pictured Skywalker clapping him on the shoulder. Ahsoka laughing.

Up ahead, he saw the exit, the grate still missing after the rookies had used it to escape the first time. He quickened his pace as best he could and dove headfirst out of the tube, falling a few meters before hitting the hard ground below rather ungracefully. Maybe he wouldn’t mention that bit. He straightened, then ran ahead to the wreckage of his and Cody’s shuttle, where he could get a better view of the outpost above them. He wanted to be able to see it go up in flames.

He glanced back at the others behind him. “Hevy, hit the . . .” he trailed off.

“Where’s Hevy?” Cody asked.

“I’m on it, sir.” Rex activated his commlink. “Hevy, _get out of there_.”

Hevy’s voice came back. Calm. Determined. “The remote isn’t working. I’ll have to detonate it manually.”

“Hey, hold on there. Blast him!” That was a droid.

The link erupted with the sound of laser fire.

Detonate it manually . . .

“Hevy . . .” Rex’s tone was warning.

“We’ve gotta get up there,” Fives said.

“Back to the maintenance pipe,” Cody said. “Let’s move.”

Rex and the others made to stand, but Hevy’s voice came over the link again.

“It’s no use! I know what I have to do.”

_Oh, no you don’t_. Rex wasn’t gonna let this shiny sacrifice himself. Not after he’d seen two others go early to the grave not so long ago. He shot to his feet, sprinting back toward the pipe before he was even conscious of it. He heard Cody, Echo, and Fives just behind him, keeping pace.

“I don’t like your tone, rookie.” No answer. Just more blaster fire. “Soldier, come in. Are you there?” Nothing. “Soldier, come in. Respond! _Talk to us_!”

Dismay crept up Rex’s throat. He could feel it, like bile, rising up to choke him. He just ran harder. They were _almost there._

“Hevy, come in,” Echo shouted into his own link. “Come in, Hevy. Hevy, come in!”

But Rex suddenly knew - somehow - that Hevy was dead.

Then the world flashed bright orange. Rex was deaf. Then he realized his helmet’s sound buffers must have kicked in and he looked up. The base had exploded in a massive shower of fire and debris. What was left of the landing pad and the Separatist landing craft was rocketing down towards them at terminal velocity, followed by who knew how many other bits-and-pieces of droids, supplies, equipment, and technology. Rex grabbed Fives and Cody grabbed Echo, pulling them into the relative shelter of a rocky overhang. They watched as a huge section of unidentifiable metal shot past them, trailing smoke and fire.

Nobody spoke for a moment, the reality sinking in.

“Hevy always did hate that place,” Echo said, his voice hollow.

They waited. Once it was clear that no more falling debris would hit them, Rex lead the way out of the overhang and back onto the ridge. He paused to look back up at the outpost. It was unrecognizable now, just a pile of molten metal and fire so hot he could feel it from where he was standing. Echo lowered his electrobinnoculars again and looked up into the sky.

“The fleet’s pulling away,” he reported.

“We’ve got those tinnies on the run,” Fives remarked.

“Thanks to Hevy.”

A bitter thought crossed Rex’s mind.

_Looks like I won’t be telling Ahsoka about this one, after all._

_She wouldn’t laugh._

_ _ _

Much later, Rex and Cody stood and watched on as Echo and Fives were given medals of bravery by Generals Kenobi and Skywalker. The two were flanked by clones from both the 501st and 212th. Koho, Ross, Charger. Wooley, Tracker, Gearshift.

“On behalf of the Republic,” General Kenobi said, “we thank you for your valiant service . . . and we honor your comrade’s sacrifice.”

“Your new unit is lucky to have you,” General Skywalker said, placing a medal on Fives’ chestplate as Kenobi did the same to Echo, Rex’s blue handprint still visible on his right pectoral area. “I’d be proud to fight beside you anytime, anywhere.”

The Generals bowed, the rookies saluted, and then it was over. The two Jedi marched off, Skywalker muttering something to Kenobi about “Grievous.” It was a matter for another time, Rex decided. Right now, he had men to attend to.

“Congratulations,” he told the two. “You’re not shinies anymore.”

Fives and Echo shared identical smiles for a moment. Then those smiles disappeared, replaced by disappointment.

“With . . . all due respect, sir, we failed our mission,” Echo said. “We don’t deserve this honor.”

“No,” Cody said. Rex was happy to let him take over, as he wasn’t really sure what to say. “If it weren’t for you, the Republic wouldn’t have learned of the Separatists’ invasion until it was too late.”

Rex had an idea.

“You showed me something today,” he said, his voice low. “You’re exactly the kind of men I need in the five-hundred-first.”

Echo’s and Fives’ eyes both widened for a fraction of a second, then they snapped into a salute. “Sir, yes, sir!” They struck identical stances, turned sharply, and walked off. The other clones watched them go, grinning in support of their new brothers.

Rex was happy for them. They’d just been put through the sarlaac pit and had come out the other side better for it. But they’d still lost most of their squad. At least they had each other. Rex hoped that throughout the war they at least kept that much. They were resourceful, strong men, and Rex was in desperate need of clones like them at the moment.

Hevy.

Another name to add to the growing list of casualties that kept piling up around Rex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the rest of the origin story for Fives and Echo, as well as the ever more confused headspace of Rex.


	11. Faith

**The _Resolute_ , over Bothawui**

Defeat after defeat after defeat.

Ahsoka shifted unhappily as she, Master Skywalker, and Rex stood around the holotable in the command center of the _Resolute_. Master Kenobi was projected as a hologram before them, informing them of their dire situation as if they didn’t already know.

The head clanker himself, General Grievous, had been hitting them hard over the last week or so. Not just them, actually, but apparently the entire Republic navy. They were in danger of losing their foothold in the Outer Rim which, according to Rex and her Master, was _very_ bad news. They’d lost a lot of good men going toe-to-toe with Grievous in a space battle a few systems over, and now they’d been backed into a corner at Bothawui; a world they couldn’t afford to lose due to the network of spies and information-gatherers associated with the planet. If they didn’t manage to actually hit the droid general back, this would be it.

“Among our most recent losses was the battlegroup at Falleen,” Master Kenobi said, striking what Ahsoka had come to think of as his ‘trademark’ pose. Legs straight, one arm crossed over his chest, one elbow resting on his arm, hand stroking his admittedly impressive beard. “The Separatist fleet commanded by General Grievous is headed your way.”

“Seems like that coward always knows where and when to attack us,” Master Skywalker said, frowning.

“You’re heavily outnumbered, Anakin,” Master Kenobi said, his voice low. “I advise retreat.”

Ahsoka glanced at her Master. Him? Retreat? Did Kenobi know who he was talking to? Still, he had a point. Things were looking pretty bad for them.

“If we run,” Skyguy said, “the Separatists will take control of this sector. I can’t let them do that.”

“And that is your problem.”

She couldn’t help herself now. “Master Kenobi is right,” she said. Nobody else had managed to slug it out against Grievous and win lately. Why should they be any different? Besides, they only had three _Venators_ left and more weary and wounded clones than Ahsoka could count. “We should regroup. We don’t stand a chance against –”

“Ahsoka.” Her Master’s tone was warning, but she wasn’t deterred.

“Suicide is not the Jedi way, master.”

“You should listen to your Padawan,” Master Kenobi said. Was that a hint of satisfaction in his voice?

“As you listened to yours, my old master?” Skywalker asked. Ahsoka closed her eyes for a moment. So they were fighting. “No. we’re going to stay and fight . . . And I think I know how to beat Grievous at his own game.” He leaned forward and pressed a button on the holotable. A moving hologram of an AT-TE and several clones appeared before all of them.

Ahsoka didn’t know what to make of it, but Rex seemed to catch on almost immediately. “Oh . . .” he said, understanding dawning. “If _that’s_ your plan, then I’m going out there.” He straightened and folded his arms over his chestplate.

Master Skywalker nodded. “If you think it’s wise.”

“When things go sideways out there – and mark my words, they _will_ – someone’s gotta be around to keep things under control.”

“What’s the plan, exactly, Skyguy?” Ahsoka asked, leaning forward just like her master. When she understood what he was proposing, her brows rose so high they were almost touching her akul-tooth headdress. She turned to Rex, who was almost out the door, heading off to get his men ready.

“Rex; you _better_ be careful out there,” she urged.

He shot her a one-handed finger-gun and then disappeared.

She smirked, somehow reassured.

“ _Rex_ should be careful?” Master Skywalker asked, looking at her. “I think _I’ve_ got the more dangerous job.”

Ahsoka laughed. “Him and the boys’ll be immobile. You’re the best pilot I know aside from Master Plo. Besides; between Artooie, Fireball, and the rest of Gold Squadron, there are plenty of people watching out for you out there. You’ll be fine!”

Skyguy, placated, turned back to the holotable to finish his strategy.

Half an hour later, Ahsoka stood alone in the command center aside from the usual staff of clone officers and technicians hard at work keeping the ship running. A few armored clones roamed about as well, staring at viewscreens and battle projections. With both Skyguy and Rex out executing this – in her opinion – very dangerous plan, it was up to her to command the bridge. As Grievous and his fleet appeared on the edge of their sensors and drew closer through the asteroid field surrounding the planet, the tension in the room as palpable. Buttons were pressed, shields were raised, and turbolasers were warmed up. Any minute now . . .

Ahsoka eyed the battle projection. “Resolute command to Gold Leader,” she said. “We are standing by.”

“Enemy closing to zone six.”

“Patience, Ahsoka,” came Master Skywalker’s voice over the channel.

“Zone five.” Ahsoka held her breath. “Zone four.” She let it go, trying her best to ‘release it to the Force,’ but failing. “Zone three . . .”

According to the readout, Grievous’ fleet was holding position on the edge of the asteroid field. If the plan went well, that was a very good thing. If not . . . Then Ahsoka and the ships were out in the open with absolutely no cover. They’d have no chance of survival.

“They’re right on top of us,” the clone officer warned. “Should we commence firing?”

Ahsoka held up her hand. “Wait . . . Wait . . .”

_Thump-Thump._

This ship shook with sudden impacts. Several of the clones lost their balance and Ahsoka herself was forced against the holotable. _Blast – I waited a little too long._ She regained her footing and locked eyes on the battle projection once more.

“We’re outgunned!” she said. “We’re not gonna last a mynock minute out here.” If this plan failed, they’d all die. Quickly.

“Hang on, Ahsoka,” Master Skywalker said. His squadron was almost in position to engage. “We’ve got ‘em right where we want ‘em.”

“We just lost contact with the _Reclaimer_!” cried a deck officer.

“We can’t spare a rescue team with a battle going on,” said another. “They’re on their own.” Thousands of men. Left for dead.

“Gold Squadron, take evasive action!” Anakin ordered.

“Sir, yes, sir,” Fireball affirmed. “Breaking off.”

They were screwed.

“Ahsoka, they’re in position. Unveil our little surprise.”

“Right away, master,” she affirmed, switching channels. She sent a silent prayer to the Force, hoping that her Master knew what he was doing. “Rex, old boy, it’s time you joined the party.”

“With pleasure, ma’am.”

She smiled. Maybe they weren’t lost just yet.

_ _ _

Rex grinned under his helmet. “With pleasure, sir.” He switched channels. “Let ‘em have it, boys!” A cheer went up from the crews of the – give or take – seventy-two AT-TE walkers that had been positioned on a series of asteroids overlooking what had become the battlefield. They all took aim at the four Separatist warships that loomed over them like oversized birds of prey.

“All units, fire at will.”

Rex held on tight to the gunner’s seat of one of the walkers, watching as shot after shot of blue plasma shells thudded into the Separatist frigates’ undefended aft underbellies. _Skywalker does it again_.

“Forward canon, let ‘em have it,” ordered Ahsoka.

And then the _Resolute_ and their other remaining ship, the _Redeemer_ , opened fire on the Seps as well. There was no direction from which they weren’t getting pelted with laser fire. Rex relaxed a bit, satisfied with his front row seat of the action. One ship went down in a barrage of turbolaser fire from the _Resolute_. Skywalker’s Delta-7 fighter zipped by another, sending a volley of bolts into it that destroyed the entire bridge. The ATs concentrated fire on a third ship, tearing it almost in two.

They were winning. Despite being outnumbered, they were _winning_.

“Grievous!” Skywalker snarled.

Rex scanned the battlefield and managed to just pick out his General’s signature bright yellow interceptor pull a breakneck spin and engage a long, sleek gray fighter. General Grievous’ personal ship.

“All batteries, target that command bucket!” Ahsoka said.

With any luck the two Jedi would have this wrapped up in another minute or so and Rex could set his feet on solid ground again. Then . . .

“Down! The General’s down! His fighter’s spinning off!”

No. _Not Skywalker_. Rex hit the side of his helmet. He must be having comm issues.

“Say again, control?” he said. “Sounded like you said General Skywalker went down.”

“That’s exactly what I said, sir. He got hit with debris from the command ship. He spun off into the asteroid field.”

“Rex?” That was Ahsoka. Panicked. Scared. Vulnerable. “Is he –?”

“Get me a shuttle out here, now!” Rex barked. “I don’t care if it’s that hunk-of-junk freighter the General’s got, I want it out here picking me up yesterday!”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

“R-Rex?” Ahsoka was still on the link.

“It’ll be alright, kid,” Rex assured her. “I’ll find him.”

“Okay,” her voice was barely much louder than her breathing. “I trust you.”

He knew she did.

Waiting for the shuttle to arrive was torture. Knowing his general was out there somewhere in the asteroid field – disabled, maybe unconscious, losing air – was weighing pretty heavily on him. He tapped his finger against the barrel of the AT-TE’s main gun, a nervous, staccato beat. Who knew how much life support Skywalker had in that fighter of his? He wasn’t wearing a helmet, either, which meant that if the transparasteel canopy had cracked, he was already dead. These were not comforting thoughts.

Was his general going to be the next person Rex lost?

_No. Stop._

He needed to stop thinking about that.

There was a sudden rumbling – something that Rex felt more than heard given that he was out in space – and he looked up. There it was. The _Twilight_ was hovering over Rex’s AT-TE, turning as it lowered toward him. The rear door was open and he deflector shield was engaged. Well, it was better than nothing.

When the freighter got close enough, Rex pushed off from the AT-TE’s hull, allowing himself to float upwards toward the ship. For a moment, he felt nothing at all. No gravity, no weight, nothing. If the hull of the _Twilight_ weren’t getting closer and closer each second, he wouldn’t have known he was moving at all. Then, his outstretched gloved hands made contact with the spacious, flat area that protruded out from the back of the ship and Rex grabbed onto it. Slowly, he pulled himself aboard, setting his feet against the ship and activating the magnets in his boots.

Once he was secure, Rex walked as quickly as he could across the platform before passing cleanly through the deflector shield and into the freighter’s main cargo bay. Denal and Redeye were waiting for him. Rex yanked his helmet off.

“Do we know where Skywalker went down?” he demanded, striding forward. It was good to breathe air that didn’t come from his life-support system, but Rex couldn’t really dwell on it. There were more pressing matters to attend to.

“Yes, sir,” Redeye reported. Like Denal, the kid had painted his armor to match the 501st color scheme. There were thick blue stripes down both his arms and a small arrow painted above the center of his visor. On the upper left side of his helmet, there was a strange circle design with a series of lines running through it. “Mixer’s in the cockpit – he’s already taking us there.”

“Get up there and let me know when you’ve located General Skywalker,” Rex ordered. “Once we’re in position over his fighter, I’ll go back out and access the damage. Then we’ll extract him.”

_Dead or alive._

“Sir, yes, sir.” Redeye saluted and disappeared from the cargo bay.

Rex clutched his helmet tightly under one arm and turned to stare out the still open bay door. The ship was moving once more, leaving behind the asteroid from which they’d staged their ambush. He gave Denal a sideways glance.

“Send an order to the _Resolute_ ,” he said. “Get some ship out there to retrieve the walkers.”

“Er, Commander Tano already gave that order, sir,” Denal reported. “There were ships getting underway just as we were lifting off.”

Rex nodded. It was good that Ahsoka was able to stay focused enough in a time of crisis like this to still look after the men. Rex’s commlink bleeped. He pressed it and brought the receiver up to his mouth.

“We’re getting close to Skywalker’s last known location, sir,” Mixer said. “Better get prepped.”

“Copy.” Rex terminated the link and slid his helmet over his head, making sure all the seals popped into place. He couldn’t afford a breach right now.

His link went off again. “Sir,” Redeye said, “we’ve got a weak signal from General Skywalker’s fighter. We’re zeroing in on it now. Standby.”

Rex waited. Asteroids flew past. The ship shuddered a bit; he supposed the space rocks were bouncing off the ship’s external deflector shields. Then, at long last, the yellow and gray starfighter slipped into view. There was a large, black mark on the starboard side of the fighter, and the astromech droid – R2-D2 – was missing. _Skywalker’s not going to be happy about that_. Rex couldn’t see through the transparasteel canopy that the General should be enclosed behind, so there was no telling what kind of state he was in. He wasn’t responding to any attempts to reach him, however, so that didn’t bode well.

“I’m going out there to assess the situation,” Rex said, starting forward. “Prep the tow cable and be ready to bring the fighter in.”

“Yes, sir,” Denal affirmed.

And he was once more out in the soundless, blank mass that was space. Rex hastened to the edge of the rear platform, took a moment to aim himself, and pushed off, floating once more. Another moment and Rex made contact with General Skywalker’s star fighter. His boots once more magnetized to the ship’s hull, allowing him to remain attached without too much effort. The ship spun slightly with his impact, but thankfully did not begin to drift away from its current location. Rex peered in through the fighter’s canopy, now able to see directly into the cockpit.

There was General Skywalker. As indicated by the slow rise and fall of his chest, he was still alive. Just unconscious. Rex glanced all around them. Still no sign of R2-D2. Not even a part big enough to identify. The droid was just _gone_. It was too bad, really. As droids went, the General’s prize astromech really wasn’t all that bad. It was strange that it was nowhere to be found, but once again, Rex had more pressing matters to attend to. He needed to get his flesh and blood General back to the med bay before any lasting harm came to him. He could worry about the droid later. If at all.

“I’ve got the General,” Rex said into his comm link. “He’s alive. Reel us in.”

“Copy that.”

A moment later, there was _thump_ and the ship shuddered a bit as the _Twilight_ ’s tow cable shot out and affixed itself to the starfighter’s hull. Then, there was a strange feeling as Rex felt himself being pulled through space by his boots as the ship was drawn into the cargo bay of the larger freighter. Artificial gravity took over and Rex braced himself as the ship dropped to the ground, jarring his teeth.

Rex detached himself from the fighter and circled around to the cockpit. “Help me with this,” he said to Denal, who hustled over. “We’re gonna have to pry the canopy off.” The two clones removed their vibroblades and went to work. Bypassing the airtight seals in place to keep the cockpit secure, they slid the blades into the small space between the transparasteel and the hull and went to work.

A minute later, the cockpit burst open. The fighter was so damaged that the controls didn’t even react. There was barely any power left. Another minute or two and the life support would’ve cut out. Rex breathed a sigh of relief and reached into the cockpit, grabbing his General under the arms and hauling him out of the interceptor.

“What should we do with the ship?” Denal asked.

Rex gave it a once-over. “Eject it,” he said. “It looks too damaged to be salvageable.” He was no mechanic, but he supposed a chuck out of the wing, a busted cockpit, and more scorch marks and blaster damage than actual paint would render a Delta-7 inoperable. Then again, he could be wrong.

“Yes, sir,” Denal said.

While the other trooper went about sending the fighter back into space, Rex picked up General Skywalker and slung him over one shoulder. He needed to go.

_ _ _

Ahsoka leaned over the holotable on the bridge of the _Resolute_ , her orange fingers gripping its edge so hard they had almost turned white. _He has to be alive. He_ has _to be. Don’t worry, Rex’ll find him. Rex’ll find him. It’ll be okay._

“ _Resolute_ ,” came a voice over the comm link, “this is Mixer on the _Twilight_. Do you read me?”

“We read you, Mixer. Go ahead.”

“We’ve got General Skywalker. He’s alive. Prep medical, we’re comin’ in.”

The bridge might have erupted into cheers. Ahsoka wasn’t sure, because not even half a second later, she was already out the door, sprinting down corridor after corridor to get to the hanger bay in time for their return.

Her master was alive! He’d be fine.

_Rex did it._

Ahsoka burst into the hanger just in time to see the _Twilight_ touch down; its lower, vertical wing folding up underneath it, its landing gear only just extending. Before she was even halfway across the room, however, two fully armored clones dragging a hoverstretcher brushed past her at top speed, hurtling toward the freighter. The _Twilight_ ’s front ramp lowered, admitting the two clones and their stretcher. Ahsoka stood a few paces away from the exit ramp, unsure if she wanted to go in or not. Then Rex descended the ramp, followed closely by Mixer.

“Is he gonna be okay?” Ahsoka piped up.

The two clones approached her.

“He’ll be alright, kid,” Rex said, reaching up with one hand and sliding his helmet off his head. “He just needs a short stay in the medbay and he’ll be fine.”

The two clones from medical descended the ramp with Redeye and Denal, the hoverstretcher floating between them. Anakin Skywalker lay atop it, eyes closed, head rolled lifelessly to one side. The clones had set an oxygen mask over his mouth. He wasn’t moving at all.

_Rex said he’d be okay. Rex said he’d be okay._

“Are you alright, ma’am?”

Mixer was staring at her. She glanced down. Without realizing it, she had grabbed onto Rex’s bracer with both hands, much like she had on Teth when she thought he had shut her Master out of the monastery.

She released him.

“I’m . . . fine, Mixer,” she said, sighing. “I’m just worried.”

“Hit the barracks, Mixer,” Rex said. “You did good today.”

Mixer nodded and walked off.

Rex set off across the hanger, Ahsoka right behind him. It was only then that she noticed there was something missing from the rescue mission. “Where’s Artoo?”

“I . . . couldn’t find the droid,” Rex said, frowning.

“Oh . . .” Her master wasn’t going to like that. _She_ didn’t like that. R2 had been around since before she’d first met him on Christophsis, and the little droid always had an air about him that for some reason exuded trustworthiness. He was the most loyal little astromech she had ever met. Not that she’d met too many.

“In, er, all fairness,” Rex continued. “I didn’t really have time to look around; the priority was getting General Skywalker out of that mess first.”

“It’s alright, Rex,” Ahsoka said. “He – Artoo – was just a droid.” It wasn’t true, but it was what she was supposed to say. _Attachment is forbidden for a Jedi._ That was a hard reality for her to swallow, especially after all the events at Altis. Rex probably knew that, but he didn’t press her over it. Maybe he was still having troubling thoughts of his own.

If he did, he didn’t show it, and Ahsoka couldn't read his mind.

“Are you going to the medbay?” Ahsoka asked. She was sure she knew the answer, but she just wanted to hear it. Either way, she herself was going to go, but she didn’t want to be alone. She wanted Rex around.

“Naturally,” he said.

They exited the hanger and stepped into the hallway beyond. The hoverstretcher bearing Master Skywalker and the clones escorting him had long disappeared into the ship, but they still knew exactly where to go – they’d both been in the bay numerous times already, for visitation as well as recovery.

“Do you . . . want me to come with you?” Ahsoka asked

Rex smirked. “Of course, kid. I’m sure General Skywalker will want to see you. And it’s probably best if he hears about his droid from you.”

“Right . . .”

Not a conversation she was looking forward to.

The pair reached the doors of the medbay and Ahsoka closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to put on her best brave face. She needed to look as though none of this bothered her much, for Skyguy’s sake.

“Hey, littl’un,” Rex said, catching her attention. She looked up into his kind, hazel eyes. “It’ll be okay. He’s alright. And I’m sure we can figure something out about the droid. Maybe it’s just floating around out there waiting to be rescued. If we have to, we can check after the General feels better. Okay?”

Ahsoka took another breath. “Okay,” she said.

It felt good to have Rex reassure her.

The door opened and they stepped inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Always wondered what Rex did to rescue Anakin and still leave his Delta behind. 
> 
> Brought in Denal, Redeye, and Mixer because they're underrated.


	12. Head Rush

**The _Twilight_ , space**

“Light ‘em up, boys!”

Beside and behind Ahsoka, Rex and Koho manned the _Twilight_ ’s laser canons. From the looks of things, they’d arrived just in time to save Master Skywalker’s life. Again. Two Separatist warships were bearing down on her Master and more vulture droids than she could count were swarming through the space between them. Skywalker’s interceptor sat, motionless in the middle of empty space, not firing a single shot. Maybe something really _was_ wrong.

She opened a commlink channel to the fighter. “Cargo bay doors open,” she said. “You better get inside.”

“I’d love to,” her Master replied, very clearly irritated, “But Arthree’s having a problem with the engines.”

_Oh, no . . ._

Ahsoka had hoped this little trip would give her Master a little alone time with his new droid so they could bond. R2 was gone; there was no getting around that at this point, so he would just have to get used to R3 because it was all he had. Instead, things seemed to only be more strained. Despite Skyguy’s assertion that his engines weren’t working, his fighter suddenly roared to life, streaking through space as it turned to hurtle toward the _Twilight_.

“Let’s give him some cover, boys.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

More vulture droids were on approach, and Ahsoka piloted the much larger freighter through their midst as best she could while the clones laid down suppressive fire. Outside, she saw several droids burst into showers of white-hot flame. There was loud ‘thump’ from somewhere in the aft section of the ship.

“I’m inside,” her Master reported. “Now let’s get out of here, Ahsoka.” She didn’t need to be told twice. She scanned the space before them. No planets, no more incoming droids. Just two huge warships on approach. There was only one thing to do.

“Power it up, Rex,” she ordered. “We’re going right between those tin cans.”

If he had doubts, he didn’t voice them. Good old Rex. Ahsoka pushed the throttle forward with all her strength. The two warships were getting closer and closer; the gap between them growing smaller and smaller. This was going to be close. But after a couple months hanging around Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, close calls were just becoming a part of everyday life for her. She had this.

There was a screeching sound from above and below as Ahsoka flipped the freighter completely upside down, just barely scraping between the wings of the two Separatists ships. And then they were home free. She glanced over at her copilot. Rex was leaned all the way back in his seat, hands tensely gripping the armrests of the seat, still completely silent.

She grinned. He must have been swearing up a storm inside his head. She could feel the tension radiating off him in the force. She gave him a wink. “Hit it, Rex.”

He reached one hand out and gave the hyperdrive controls a little push.

And they were off.

_ _ _

General Skywalker ship flew through empty space. They were off the grid. After their little run-in with those two Separatist warships, Ahsoka and Rex had taken them to a quiet sector not far from the encounter. There was nothing around; he figured the Seppies wouldn’t look there. Now, he sat at one of the consoles in the cockpit of the freighter, scanning different Separatist channels, searching for this ‘listening post’ they were supposed to be looking for. General Skywalker leaned over his shoulder, watching him.

“We’ve searched their supply grids, sir,” he reported. “There’s nothing to indicate the presence of an enemy outpost.”

“Master,” Ahsoka piped up. Rex and the General made identical movements as they turned to look at her. She was standing beside Skywalker’s new droid, R3-S6, at one of the other consoles, one hand holding an audio receiver close to her montrals. “I’m receiving a strange transmission. I can’t seem to make it out, though.” She tapped the console, and a strange whirring sound played over the speakers. “Boost the volume, Goldie.”

Another nickname.

_A gold droid for Gold Leader of Gold Squadron._

The little droid, which Skywalker had his _own_ nickname for, beeped dully and plugged into the console. “No, you’re losing it,” Skywalker scolded. He left Rex’s side and stormed over to the console, pushing the droid out of the way and banging his fist against it. An electronic whistle cut through the static for half a second. His eyes lit up. “That’s Artoo!”

Ahsoka was as skeptical as Rex. “Uh, that doesn’t sound like Artoo . . .”

“It’s him. I could never forget that voice.” Skywalker was certain. “Trace it, Rex.”

That was an order. He couldn’t question it. He nodded. “Sir.”

He turned back to his console, trying to isolate the transmission they were still receiving and figure out exactly where it was coming from.

“Master, our orders were to find the Separatist listening post.” Oh, boy. There was going to be an argument.

“Perhaps Artoo is _at_ the listening post.” If Rex knew his General – and he _did_ – there was going to be no stopping him from going after his astromech, whether he was at the listening post or not. “Did you consider that?”

Rex’s console bleeped. _I’ve got you now_. “We have a lock on the droid’s location, sir.” If it even _was_ the droid. The signal was coming from one of the moons of Ruusan.

“Prepare to jump to those coordinates,” Skywalker ordered.

“Yes, sir,” said Koho from the pilot’s seat.

“Hold on, Artoo, old buddy,” Rex heard Skywalker mutter as he strode toward the viewport. “We’re coming.”

Rex felt the ship jump into hyperspace again.

They found their listening post, alright, and Skywalker was one hundred percent convinced that R2-D2 had led them there. He’d even managed to get Ahsoka tentatively on-board with the idea. After a few scans, they’d determined that the listening post was a battle sphere stationed in the upper atmosphere of a gaseous moon circling Ruusan. After a short, tense conversation with General Kenobi, it had been decided that they would need to sneak aboard the outpost and destroy it before the Seps managed to crack R2-D2’s memory banks. It was a decision that Skywalker was not on-board with.

“Careful out there, you two,” Koho said from his position at the pilot’s controls, looking back at Rex and Denal as they followed everyone into the back of the ship. Someone had to be left on board to keep it flying while everyone else went in to destroy the listening post. Quick exits were usually necessary when it came to General Skywalker’s plans. Rex and the other clones had drawn blaster clips to see who would remain behind. Koho had picked the empty one. “Don’t go having too much fun without me.”

“I’ll try not to gloat when we come back,” Denal replied, ducking through the door as he strapped a JT-12 jetpack to his back. Their plan was to jump off the back of the freighter over the listening post so as to remain undetected.

Rex gave Koho a thumbs-up, then followed Denal through the door and the short hallway beyond into the cargo bay, making sure his own jetpack was working properly.

Denal and three other clones hung around, waiting to get underway. Rex strode over to Ahsoka, who was fiddling with a few knobs on R3-S6’s exterior.

“We’re bringing the droid?” He wasn’t sure how it would be beneficial in any kind of combat scenario.

Ahsoka stood. “We’ll need Goldie to open secured hatches and access the station’s computer for us.” She leaned heavily on the droid’s domed head and raised a brow at him. “Oh, and Rex?” _Uh-oh_. “ _You_ get to carry him.”

She sauntered off.

Rex stared down at the undoubtedly very heavy, bulky astromech, which beeped almost excitedly. “Ah, that’s just great . . .”

“Here you go, sir.” Rex turned to see Denal standing behind him, holding out a flexible strap. He was going to have to secure the droid to his chest.

“I hope you don’t think this is funny,” Rex spat, slamming his helmet onto his head and snatching the strap from the other clone.

“Not one bit, sir.”

Rex hand only just secured the astromech to his chestplate - _yeah, definitely heavy_ \- when the cargo bay’s main door began to slide upwards, revealing the cloudy, orange sky of the moon. They must be getting close to the drop point. The door had barely hit the ceiling when Ahsoka ran forward, shouting and waving them on.

“Follow me, boys!”

And she jumped.

There was a pause as everyone crowded around the edge of the platform. Then, Denal leapt off after her. Rex, Skywalker, and the others followed suit and suddenly everyone was falling through cloud layers. Rex saw purple lightning bouncing around the clouds to either side and hoped that it wouldn’t become a hazard. They didn’t know anything about the weather patterns here. Big mistake.

Skywalker and Ahsoka landed hard on the metal roof of the battle sphere, though of course due to the fact that they were Jedi, they weren’t injured in the slightest. They must have used the Force to cushion their landing. Rex and his boys activated their jetpacks, turning midflight to slow their descent and come to a graceful stop just behind their commanding officers. Well, except for Rex, who landed heavily and had to take step backwards to stop from falling over. The droid was _heavy_.

The other clones glanced at him.

Rex pointed vehemently at Denal. “Next time,” he said, warningly, “ _you’re_ lugging this astromech around.”

The boys chuckled for a few moments. Someone was getting KP, Rex just didn’t know who yet. Maybe all of them.

_ _ _

Denal stood back and paid close attention as Captain Rex gestured to the hologram that General Skywalker’s new droid was projecting before them. They had 30 levels to descend before they reached their objective. That was a lot of time to remain undetected. Skywalker shrugged off his backpack and handed it to his Padawan.

“Ahsoka,” he ordered, “you take the squad and blow up those reactors. Gravity will do the rest. We’ll meet in the landing bay.”

“Where are you going?” the little Togruta asked as Skywalker stalked off.

He glanced back. “I’m . . . just gonna have a little look around.”

Commander Tano seemed to believe that about as much as Denal did. “I hope you find Artoo in one piece.”

Skywalker smirked and was gone.

And so, they descended floor after floor, following Commander Tano as she led them through the facility, adhering to the floorplan that Skywalker’s droid had apparently downloaded after plugging into the battle sphere’s mainframe. Along the way, they ran into a few battle droids, but it was not trouble to dispatch them quietly enough with a Jedi on their side. Nearly there. He’d been counting; they were on floor twenty-seven.

“Where’d the Commander go?” asked one of the other troopers, Bail, pulling up short.

Denal and Rex, who had taken the lead, stopped and looked back. Commander Tano and the droid were nowhere to be seen. _Stang_. The last thing they needed was another disappearing CO. Denal glanced over at Rex. If the Commander went AWOL, control of the mission would fall to him.

“Wait a moment,” he said. “She wouldn’t slip off without telling us. Hold position. If she doesn’t show up soon, we’ll have to keep moving and search for her later.”

“Don’t bother,” said a voice. Denal turned to see Commander Tano coming around a corner they had passed a moment ago. “Sorry. Goldie lagged behind a bit; had to collect him.”

An alarm suddenly blared from somewhere within the facility. “Shit,” Denal muttered.

“That . . . complicates things,” Rex said.

“Think Skywalker got caught?” Bail asked.

Rex held his commlink up. “Sir?”

“I heard it,” General Skywalker answered. “It wasn’t me. I don’t know how they detected us, but we still need to be careful. They don’t know where we are or why we’re here.”

_But they could certainly guess._

“Copy that, sir,” Rex said. “We’ll stick to the plan.” He ended the link, looking up. “Move it boys; double-time.” They descended the last three floors in record time, reaching the reactor level – surprisingly – without meeting anymore battle droids. Finally, they stood in front of a large set of heavy metal doors.

Unfortunately, a bright red light shimmered just in front of it.

Today was not going well.

Rex opened up his commlink up for a second time. “We found the reactor room, sir. The alarm triggered another security door; ray-shielded.”

“ _This_ could take a while to bypass,” Commander Tano said.

“Good luck with that.”

The Commander shrugged off Skywalker’s backpack and motioned for their droid to roll forward. “Go ahead, Goldie,” she chirped. “Make me proud.” The astromech approached the door’s control panel and plugged itself in.

“Oh, this’ll be good,” Rex muttered. Commander Tano shot him a look.

Denal couldn’t help but agree. They were on a tight schedule, and according to Skywalker, this astromech had an extremely spotty track record. He fiddled with his blaster, hoping things didn’t get any worse than they already were. Alarm: check. Deep in enemy terriotory: check. Ray-shielded objective: check. Unreliable droid: check. The only thing that could make this worse would be . . .

Marching footsteps resounded from somewhere further down the corridor.

A squad of battle droids was on the way.

Of course.

“Those droids are gettin’ close, sir,” Denal warned.

“Do you think Arthree’s gonna open up that door any time soon?” Rex asked.

“He’s working on it,” the Commander maintained, sounding affronted. “Patience, Captain.”

Denal signaled to the other clones and they all began taking up defensive positions around the door, covering themselves in the small alcoves provided by the structure of the walls. Patience wasn’t going to do them any good if they all died before they got what they needed. The first droids began to slide slowly into view.

Denal glanced back. “I can always hot-wire it, sir.” No harm in trying. They were running out of options.

“Hurry up, Goldie,” Commander Tano pleaded.

“I think we’ve run out of time,” Rex said.

“Blast ‘em!”

Those were droids, alright. Denal dove, taking cover on the opposite side of the hall and darting out to fire off a few shots at the battle droids that now lined the corridor. He saw Commander Tano draw her lightsaber and rush forward, blocking blaster bolts in a swift, horizontal swipe. Captain Rex took cover behind R3, firing one of his DC-17s.

A sudden whirring sound caught his attention. Denal glanced over, dismay rising in his throat as he saw a second security door close in front of the ray-shield. They were now somehow further from their objective than they had been a minute ago. He and Rex looked incredulously at Commander Tano, who looked just as displeased.

“They’re behind us too!” Bail called out.

Without thinking, Denal blasted one of the battle droids in front of him and spun, firing before he knew what he was aiming at. A squad of super battle droids had marched in behind them and were now firing at their exposed backs.

“Rex, droid poppers, now!” Commander Tano ordered, spinning to deflect another volley of shots.

The Captain slid onto one knee and drew one arm back, a small grenade clutched in one hand. “Droid poppers!” He threw the grenade toward the SBDs, which all paused mid-firefight to look down at the object now rolling toward their feet. Before they could react, the grenade went off in a blinding flash of light and the SBDs slumped to the ground, sparking and deactivated.

Denal returned his attention to the normal battle droids still firing from their other side, but before he could do more than sight up, Rex had thrown a second droid popper towards them. A moment later, all blaster fire stopped. They were alone again.

Denal breathed a sigh of relief. It was over.

“They sent a child to destroy my station?” He looked up. A hulking cyborg stood before them, throwing a cape off its shoulders. No, _his_. He saw the lightsabers hooked to the abomination’s waist. _This_ must be General Grievous. Grievous pulled one ‘saber and ignited it, the blue blade sizzling dangerously. “The Republic must be running out of Jedi.”

Denal stood at the ready, waiting for whatever was coming next. All around him, the others did the same.

“You must be General Grievous,” Commander Tano said.

The cyborg general laughed; a sound like metal scraping together. His voice was even more filtered than any of theirs were through their helmets.

There was a strange look in the Commander’s eyes. They were narrowed; pupils dilated and full of fire. Her lips were parted and her teeth were held tightly together, allowing Denal to get a glimpse at the fangs she usually didn’t show. This was her predator side coming out. “He’s just another tinny, boys. Let’s scrap him like the rest.”

Just like that, the Padawan ignited her own lightsaber, rushed forward, and crossed blades with Grievous.

“Don’t fire,” Rex ordered, stepping back. “You might hit the Commander.”

Denal just watched, his body screaming at him to _do something_.

One. Two. Three strikes and it was over. Grievous fainted, giving the Commander a glancing blow before striking out with one metal fist and sending her small form flying into a nearby wall. She hit the ground hard, lightsaber deactivating and falling from her hand. She did not get up.

“Open fire!” Rex shouted.

They did.

The cyborg deflected the first volley, sending one blaster bolt back into Bail, who was hit in the chest and went down without a word. Then he was upon them, jumping into the air. He landed directly in front of all of them, spinning as soon as he hit the ground; one of his legs and one of his arms extended. Denal saw the lightsaber cut through the other two troopers. His leg caught both Denal and Rex in the chest, sending them flying backwards.

That was the last thing he remembered before his head struck the wall behind him and his world went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed writing this 'droid arc' for some reason. This chapter, the previous one, and the following chapter were all fun to write. Kinda just decided to put Koho in the pilot's seat because he and Denal are buddies.


	13. More Than His Share

**Skytop Station, Ruusan Moon**

Ahsoka scrambled to her feet, drawing on the Force to steady herself. She took in the situation before her. All five of her men lay on the ground. One had a blaster bolt wound in his chest. Two had lightsaber burns. Denal lay against the floor on his stomach, unmoving. General Grievous stood over Rex – _He’s not moving!_ – who was on his back, lightsaber raised and ready to deliver the killing blow.

_No! You’re not getting Rex!_

Ahsoka jumped forward and ignited her lightsaber, thrusting it into the path of the one Grievous had just sent hurtling toward her captain’s head. The two blades connected with a screech. The cyborg snarled, meeting her gaze.

“Sorry to interrupt your playtime, Grumpy,” she snapped, “but wouldn’t you prefer a challenge?”

“That wouldn’t be you,” he growled.

She gave him her best confident smirk. She had to save her men. She had to get Grievous away from here. The General took a step back, releasing her blade. Then, he reached onto his waist and removed a second lightsaber, this one green. _Oh, great_. At least she had the Force.

He came at her hard, swinging both lightsabers with the precision of a droid. She met him as best she could, deflecting blow after blow. She flipped backward, leading him on. He took the bait, seemingly already forgetting about the clone troopers lying around them and focusing all his attention on her. With every blow, she took a step backwards, moving further and further down the hallway until she could no longer see her men or the reactor room.

When she met Grievous’ blade for a second, a small noise caught her attention. Her gaze shifted, and she saw Goldie whirring down the hallway towards her, letting out a concerned beep. Disengaging the cyborg, she ran, tearing down the hallway with Goldie right behind her. She knew Grievous would follow. He wouldn’t be able to resist.

Further off, she found a door that opened at her approach and rushed inside, glancing around. She was in a large, dark room. All around her were shelves with various battle droid parts strewn across them. She crouched behind one row and waited. Now, she had the element of surprise on her side. Moments later, the door slid open again and Grievous stomped into the room, looking about in anger.

“Where is the fight you promised me, youngling?” he demanded.

She needed to keep him busy, distract him for as long as possible so the others could complete the mission. She glanced up and saw a loose box sitting atop one of the shelves. Reaching out with the Force, she grabbed it and let it fall to the ground. From somewhere off to her left, she could hear Grievous’ breathing and the clack of his metal feet as he wandered off to investigate the noise.

Her commlink beeped. Terror rushed through her. _Did he hear?_ But nothing happened. Ahsoka tapped the link and held it to her mouth; so close she was almost kissing it.

“Ahsoka, it’s me, Rex.” Oh, thank the Force he was alright. She sagged with relief. “There are only two of us left. Should we abort the mission?”

He was alive. Denal was probably alive. She needed to keep it that way. They were in too deep to back out now. “No. Complete the mission. Set the charges and rendezvous at the landing bay.”

“But, ma’am –”

“That’s an order, Rex.” She almost flinched. She’d never pulled rank on him before, and she didn’t like it. But she didn’t have a choice. They _had_ to complete the mission. “I’ll keep the general busy. Ahsoka out.” She terminated the link and crept away, slinking quietly between two shelves. Sometimes, it was nice to be descended from a long line of predators.

“Come here, child,” echoed Grievous’ raspy, electronic voice. “I’m looking for you. So far, you have failed to impress me.”

There was a whirring from up ahead and Goldie rolled around the corner. When had he separated from her? Ahsoka wasn’t sure, but it didn’t matter. Grievous would probably scrap him if he got caught, and she couldn’t have that.

“Goldie,” she whispered, waving, “over here.”

The little droid rolled over, beeping . . .

. . . and turned his spotlight on, illuminating her entire body.

“ _Goldie_ , no –!”

She was cut off as a lightsaber cut through the shelves to her right and she fell back, dropping her commlink in the process. She scrambled to her feet, backing up a few paces, only to see General Grievous turn the corner and stomp on her commlink, just as Rex’s voice came out of it.

“Ahsoka, we’re in the reactor –”

“Your friends won’t help you,” he snarled. “You’re stuck with me.”

In the split second before he struck, Ahsoka ducked and rolled through the shelves to the left, coming out the other side and sprinting deeper into the room.

_ _ _

Rex groggily picked himself up. His head hurt. What happened?

Grievous.

He’d knocked Ahsoka unconscious. Killed Bail. Sliced through the other two troopers. Hit him and Denal. _He’d_ been unconscious.

How was he still alive?

Rex looked over to see Denal struggling to pick himself up off the ground as well. He scanned the hallway. No droids. No Grievous. No Ahsoka.

Shit.

She must’ve engaged Grievous as a distraction. He brought his wrist commlink to his helmet. “Ahsoka, it’s me, Rex,” he said. Damn, his head hurt. He shouldn’t be calling her by her name; you didn’t do that with commanding officers. “There’s only two of us left. Should we abort the mission?”

He couldn’t help but feel relieved when she answered. As it was, her voice was quiet. She was whispering. “No. Complete the mission. Set the charges and rendezvous at the landing bay.”

What? But Grievous. The General. The men . . .

“But, ma’am –”

“That’s an order, Rex.” Damn her. _Orders are there for a reason. They keep you alive. You follow orders._ She was still talking. “I’ll keep the General busy. Ahsoka out.”

The link went dead.

“Sir?” Denal asked. He had made it to his feet and was looking down, clearly wondering what they should do.

“She’s distracting Grievous,” Rex explained, finally dragging himself to his feet. “Come on. We’ve still got a job to do.” He slipped one of his sidearms out of its holster and set off down the corridor at a sprint. Denal followed him, barely pausing as he reached down and scooped up their fallen backpack of explosives.

The two men reached the reactor doors in no time at all, given that they’d barely traveled half a corridor away from them. Rex had nothing to do but wait and cover Denal while he knelt down next to the control panel and went to work. The security doors were still up, which meant the ray shields probably were as well.

“You sure you can slice that thing?” Rex asked as he scanned the corridor. Denal was the best slicer he knew, but he still wanted to be sure.

“Better than any droid on the market,” Denal assured him, not looking up. “Definitely better than that _Arthree_. I’ll tell ya, something rubs me the wrong way about that droid. It’s almost like he’s _trying_ to screw up at every possible turn.”

Rex rolled his eyes. “ _All_ droids rub you the wrong way.” Not that he could really blame him. “This one’s probably just defective.”

Denal clapped his hands together. “Done.” Both sets of doors began sliding open and the ray-shield deactivated.

Rex raised his eyebrows. “Already? Why didn’t we just do that the first time?”

Denal readied his blaster and walked ahead. “We were trying to be quiet before,” he said. “That’s why we brought the droid. But given how sideways this mission has gone, I figured speed is more of a priority than stealth. I bypassed most of the security by just smashing through it; no being careful. I dunno how many more alarms I triggered, but probably a lot.”

Rex sighed, but didn’t say anything as he followed the other clone into the reactor room. He had a point, and there was no going back now. Kriff, his head really was bothering him. He rubbed his helmet with one hand, one eye still on the door. Denal jogged ahead and slipped the backpack off one shoulder, kneeling before the sparking, circular reactor to plant every charge they had on it. As everyone always said, the formula for calculating a detonation was P for plenty.

They’d only get one shot at this.

Rex keyed his commlink. “Ahsoka,” damn it, “we’re in the reactor c –”

_Bzzt!_

The line went dead.

“ _Blast!”_ he swore.

Denal was suddenly beside him. “What is it? What’s the problem?”

“We just lost our line to the Commander,” Rex said, starting to pace. “I don’t – I’m not sure what that means.”

“Sir?”

Rex placed one hand over his visor. His head was hurting enough that he was finding it hard to think. Something was swirling around inside his skull, but he couldn’t identify what it was. Two conflicting schools of thought were fighting for control over his actions. Rescue Ahsoka or follow her orders and do his job. He needed painkillers or something. What was he going to do? Should he try and find Ahsoka? What about General Skywalker?

_Are you going to go after your friend or complete the mission?_

_Ahsoka ordered me to set the charges and get to the hanger._

_What if she dies?_

_Orders are there for a reason. They keep you alive._

_Ahsoka won’t thank you if you go after her._

That’s what he told himself, anyway.

“Sir, what do we do?”

Rex answered and hated himself for it. “We complete the mission. We need to get to the hanger and rendezvous with everyone else. We have to trust them to do their part. Let’s go!”

“Yes, sir!”

They bolted. With any luck, Ahsoka and Skywalker would both make it to the hanger.

_ _ _

Ahsoka crouched atop one of the many rows of shelves, hoping Grievous didn’t decide to look upwards all of the sudden and spot her. Movement caught her eye and she adjusted herself to get a view of the situation.

Below her, General Grievous was standing over Goldie, leaning down to look at him. _Uh-oh_. The poor, defective droid was going to be torn apart. She couldn’t deny anymore that something was wrong with Goldie. After shining a spot light on her and nearly getting her caught, she had to admit he was a bit of a liability, even if he meant well.

But she was wrong again.

“Arthree, what have you to report?” Grievous asked.

The little droid let out a series of friendly bleeps.

“That stubby little backstabber . . .” Ahsoka muttered, suddenly angry. She had trusted the stupid bucket of bolts; tried to stick up for him, even! And after all that, it turned out that Skyguy was right the whole time.

“So, Skywalker has come for his Artoo unit,” Grievous said, suddenly thoughtful. He chuckled. “Go and make certain they do not escape.” R3 beeped an affirmative and wheeled away at top speed. Grievous himself stood there for a moment, then stalked off. Ahsoka watched the droid roll away, seething.

After a few moments, she ignited her lightsaber and dropped down from her perch, silent as a shadow. She moved through the shelves just as quietly. The others had to have completed the mission by now. She needed to get out of here. No one else knew that R3 was a spy; she had to warn them. Unless they had already left and she was alone.

No. Rex would never do that. Neither would Master Skywalker.

She peered around a corner. She just needed to –

Suddenly she couldn’t breathe.

Cold metal closed around her throat and her feet left the ground. She struggled, trying to raise her lightsaber, but it was knocked from her grasp. She heard it clatter away onto the floor, shutting off on the way down. The angular, metal face of General Grievous suddenly took up her entire field of vision. He growled, climbing down from the wall he had apparently been attached to and carried Ahsoka by the throat a few paces. With one hand, he reached down and picked up her own lightsaber, igniting it and holding it so close to her face that she could feel the intense heat radiating off of the blade.

“Another lightsaber to add to my collection,” he said, his voice full of triumph and gloating. “My spy droid, Arthree, has trapped your precious master. When I’ve finished with you, he’s next.”

Ahsoka, defiant to the end, feebly tapped one closed fist against the cyborg’s chestplate. “You’re wrong,” she coughed. “He’s gone by now, and he’s gonna blow up your precious spy station.”

“Not this time.”

The station suddenly rumbled. Grievous took a step back, his grip loosening.

_The explosives! Oh, Force, thank you, Rex!_

Ahsoka grabbed the mechanical hand that held her lightsaber and pulled, causing it to cut through the other metal appendage that had a death grip on her throat. The pressure was suddenly gone and she flopped to the ground, scrambling to her feet and away from the General before he could do anything other than let out a frustrated growl.

She darted upwards, leaping from shelf to shelf, causing them to tip over as she ascended. Once at the very top, she managed to stay one step ahead of the chaos and cross the entirety of the room in a few quick leaps, diving into a thankfully open air-duct and scurrying away. Behind her, she heard a lightsaber ignite.

_That reminds me_.

She turned and reached out with the Force, calling.

A moment later, her own lightsaber slapped against her palm. She caught it and retreated further into the air-ducts, dodging and rolling as General Grievous swiped angrily at her from below.

_ _ _

Rex came up short as soon as he entered the hanger, eyes scanning the entire room. Denal came up just behind him the moment Rex laid eyes on the _Twilight_. General Skywalker, Koho, R2-D2, and R3-S6 were all standing around a door just to the right. He hustled over to meet with them.

“General Skywalker,” he reported. “Explosives are in place, sir. Objective completed.”

“Where is Ahsoka?” Skywalker demanded.

Oh, stang. The one question Rex didn’t want to answer.

“She engaged General Grievous,” he said.

“Alone?” Skywalker looked frantic.

“She distracted him while we completed the mission,” Rex went on. “It was on her orders, sir.” It sounded like an excuse, even to him. Because it was. “The droid was with her.” He indicated to R3-S6.

“We gotta find her,” Skywalker said, mirroring his own line of thinking.

“I can take you to her, sir.” Her last known location, at least. He waved the General on, turning and sprinting back toward the passage he and Denal had just emerged from. But suddenly, the doors were closing. They stopped short.

_What the hell?_

He and the others glanced back to see that the hanger bay door was sliding shut as well. Rex’s eyes found R3, who was plugged into a console, probe whirring as it chirped annoyingly. He really was starting to hate that droid.

“What’s the matter with you?” Skywalker demanded. “Are you _trying_ to get us killed?”

That’s when Rex _knew_.

His twin blaster pistols were up even before the vulture droids docked in the hanger bay whirred to life and dropped before them in a line. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this, sir.”

Skywalker’s blue blade flicked to life. “That double-crossing droid is a spy.”

The sounds of marching feet drew Rex’s attention and he slowly turned around, only to see a line of super battle droids shuffle out of another hallway and turn to face them, blaster arms extended and ready to fire.

“Move!”

The shooting started.

Rex, Denal, Koho, and Skywalker ran for cover, firing – and deflecting – as they went. Three vultures. Three SBDs. Three clones. One Jedi. _Maybe_ they could make it out of this. If they kept their wits about them. Rex alternated between firing to his left and right, not really paying attention to his aim. He just needed to lay down enough covering fire for them to have a chance to regroup.

The three clones vaulted over a number of crates stacked around a pair of _Rouge_ -class starfighters. Skywalker, on the other hand, stood out in the open, taking the brunt of the attack and deflecting everything he could with his lightsaber. _He’s one hell of a brave man_. He’d be the definitive hero of this war, Rex bet. If he didn’t get himself killed first. Rex sighted up, dodging a shot that would’ve went straight through his eye, and began firing at the SBDs.

“I’m glad you guys saved some action for me,” Koho quipped, sheltering behind a stack of crates, “but this is a bit more than I had in mind.”

“Shut up,” Denal retorted firing his blaster much faster than should have been possible. _Must have mods installed._

“Captain,” Skywalker shouted over the din of battle, “trigger the explosives.”

Rex had to take cover to answer. “But, sir, we’re _still in the station!_ ”

Skywalker just smirked. “You just let me worry about the details.”

_Well. That’s that, then._

Rex pulled the detonator off his belt, flipped it once for luck, and pressed the button.

The whole station shook, and Rex took a moment to steady himself before returning to his job of laying down as much laser fire as possible. Skywalker had slipped behind a stack of crates not far away. Apparently there actually could be too many lasers for a Jedi to deflect at once. He was exchanging heated words with his astromech. Then he was up and moving again, out of cover, and deflecting every shot that came his way.

Suddenly, _Ahsoka was there_.

She leapt onto the head of one of the vulture droids, tricking one of its comrades into firing upon it, then dashed over to a second one and sliced its head off its body. Rex sagged with relief, but didn’t dare stop firing. There would be time for reunions later. After they all got off this blasted station. The little Togruta ran over to the front of the _Twilight_ , where her master stood, and the two began going at it again.

_Even in the heat of battle . . ._

More droids were showing up. This was getting ugly. They needed to go _now._ Rex looked behind him. And he saw it. “General Skywalker,” he shouted, “there are fuel cells over here!” That could easily even the fight.

“Get ready, Rex.”

Rex flipped down his helmet’s rangefinder and waited. Mid-block, Skywalker reached back and grabbed one of the cells with the Force flinging it toward the approaching droids. Rex took a split second to sight up, eying the cell’s arc and calculating the best time at which to blow it.

_Now!_

Rex pulled the trigger on his DC-17 and the fuel cell exploded, sending vulture droids and super battle droids alike flying. Some whole, some in pieces. The hanger went quiet. To one side of the room, the hanger bay doors began sliding open.

“Artoo did it!” Ahsoka cried.

“Of course he did it,” Skywalker said. “Now let’s get out of here.” He waved them all onwards. Rex collected his two remaining men and darted towards the _Twilight_ , sprinting up the lowered boarding ramp. They needed to go, fast. The station was already in freefall. Who knew when they’d hit something and be smashed to smithereens? Or, they could just drop out of the atmosphere if the station’s gravity drives had been affected.

It didn’t take long for everyone to be at their post and get things squared away. Koho powered the ship up and Ahsoka and Denal sat at the flight controls, guiding them out of the hanger. They were home free. Almost. Rex glanced at Koho’s terminal and saw a light flash on. He furrowed his brow.

“General Skywalker’s gotten into his fighter,” he said. “Where’s he going?” He looked to Ahsoka for answers.

She gave him a knowing look. “He’s – going after Artoo.”

Of course.

“I’ll be right back,” the General said over the comm, as if on cue. “Don’t wait for me.”

And he was gone.

Rex’s head really did hurt.

“You okay, Rex?”

He looked up to see Ahsoka staring at him, brows raised and eyes full concern.

He waved her off. “Yeah, kid, I’m fine. Just focus on flying.”

Ahsoka shrugged and turned her attention back to the front viewport, flying them up through the layers of orange clouds. Rex took the opportunity to slip out of the cockpit and back into the living quarters. Slipping his helmet off, he sat at one of the two HoloNet terminals and set his bucket on the panel before him. He sat back in the seat, reaching one hand up to rest on the back of his neck as he rolled his head. Bones popped satisfyingly. He sighed, then reached into his belt and withdrew a pair of light pain med pills, swallowing them dry. Then, he sat back and stared at the ceiling.

He’d completed the mission.

But he’d left Ahsoka behind.

It wasn’t that he didn’t think she could handle herself – he knew her far too well to ever assume that – it was just . . . well, he didn’t know. Something about him balked at the idea that he’d left his commander behind. Something other than just military protocol and years of flash training that told him always protect the Jedi. Because that same training told him to always follow orders and complete the mission at any cost.

_I’ll watch your back._

_And I’ll watch yours._

He’d promised Ahsoka he’d always be around to watch her back when he was able. And this time, he’d willingly not done exactly that.

The door slipped open.

“I think Koho missed his calling,” Ahsoka said, stepping inside. “He makes a pretty good pilot. Skyguy’s back – with Artoo. Wanna come see?”

“That’s . . .” Rex ran a hand over his face. “That’s great, kid. Yeah. I’ll be out in a minute.”

“You sure you’re okay, Rexter?” The Togruta padded over and stood over him, hands on her hips. “You don’t seem to be doing that great.”

Rex sighed. “Okay,” he said. “I guess . . . I dunno. That bump on the head Grievous gave me is bothering me a bit. And . . . I guess I don’t feel great about having left you to deal with him on your own.”

“Rex.” He looked up at her.

“I didn’t expect you to come after me,” she said. “I knew I needed to buy you and Denal time to set the charges. That’s actually what saved me. If you hadn’t set the charges and blown them when you did, Grievous would’ve killed me. You did the right thing.”

“And you were borderline suicidal.”

“Oh, don’t give me the spiel.” Ahsoka protested, raising her hands defensively. “I already got a montral-full from Master Skywalker. If I hadn’t intervened, you and Denal would be dead . . . with the rest of the team. I _couldn’t_ let that happen.”

Rex scratched the back of his head. “Yeah. Okay, kid. Okay.”

He’d done the right thing. Following orders was the way to go. He’d succeeded. _They’d_ succeeded.

It was okay.

“Need some help with that headache?” Ahsoka asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Here.”

Before Rex could do anything, Ahsoka reached out and set both her hands on the sides of his temple, closing her eyes. Rex sat up ramrod straight. What was going on? What was she doing?

_Oh . . ._

A sense of immense calm washed over him suddenly. Rex felt almost all then tension leave his body in one long, drawn out sigh. He closed his eyes. A warm, blazing presence filled his brain. _Ahsoka_. How he knew all that, he wasn’t sure. But it was comforting. The pain in his head disappeared. Thinking suddenly became a lot easier.

Ahsoka withdrew her hands and Rex opened his eyes once again.

She was looking at him funny. Her brow was scrunched together and her lips were slightly parted. As if she was trying very hard to piece something together.

“That’s quite a mind you’ve got there, Rexter,” she said. “Strong will, too.”

“What did you do?” Rex asked, curious.

Ahsoka resumed her normal, chipper expression. “I just poked around your head a bit – sent some relaxing thoughts your way. Plus, I siphoned off some of your headache onto me.”

“You took my headache and gave some of it to yourself?”

“Only a little,” Ahsoka said. “It’s not that bad. I promise.”

“Okay. If you say so.”

“Rex?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you ever . . . have strange thoughts about what’s going on? Feel things you don’t think you should be able to?” Ahsoka asked.

Rex raised an eyebrow. What did she know about that? Anyway, it wasn’t something he should discuss. They were just thoughts and feelings, after all. Nothing that would affect his ability to function as a soldier

“No,” he said. “Nothing like that.”

“Okay . . .”

He didn’t think she totally believed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This turned out to be a VERY important chapter in terms of set-up, foreshadowing, and character growth. Even more so than when I originally sat down to write it.
> 
> Thanks for your guys' kudos and comments! I appreciate all of them and I love responding to feedback and reactions.
> 
> In other news, I saw the finale today and it was everything I could've ever asked for. I'm sure many of you feel the same way - this show is, was, and always will be amazing.


	14. The Package

**Republic Frigate, over Rodia**

“Hello, Commander . . .”

“It’s Gree, ma’am,” he said, nodding to the Togrutan Padawan. _Togrutas: historically predators. Use their differing pigmentation to confuse animals. Their montrals give them some passive echolocation. They’re sometimes tribal. Individualism is seen as abnormal, but is a good thing for a leader to have. Not unlike us clones._ “I don’t need to ask who you are.”

“Wh-What do you mean?” asked Commander Tano, looking confused.

“You’re Commander Ahsoka Tano,” Gree told her. “Captain Rex has told me all about you before. Besides, when you’re General Skywalker’s Padawan, you gain a bit of a reputation.”

They were standing aboard the bridge of a Republic frigate that had just taken off from Rodia. They were to escort the Separatist prisoner Nute Gunray to the _Tranquility_ where he would be interrogated and transported to Coruscant to face trial for crimes against the Republic. The Jedi Council had dispatched Gree’s Jedi General, Luminara Unduli, and apparently Padawan Tano, to help with guarding the scum.

They had just taken off and were entering the upper atmosphere now.

“Rex has . . . talked to you about me before?” Commander Tano asked.

“Well,” Gree admitted. “Yes. Most clone officers talk with each other on a regular basis, ma’am.”

“And Rex . . . talks about me a lot?”

“Er . . . here and there.” Gree wasn’t sure how much he should say now. This was getting awkward. “Truthfully, not everything I hear is directly from Rex. A lot of it is relayed secondhand through Commander Fox – he’s one of the Commanders in the Coruscant Guard. Not much happens there, so he has plenty of time to relay messages and . . . well . . . gossip.”

“Right,” Commander Tano smirked. “The famous ‘clone rumor mill.’”

“Something like that.”

“What does Rex say about me?”

Gree was spared having to answer – and he _would_ answer because he was no good at lying – by General Unduli slipping onto the bridge. Behind her came two of Gree’s men, dragging Nute Gunray by the arms. Gree snapped to attention.

_Mirialan: strong beliefs in the natural world and the Force. Very spiritual. Traditional geometric facial tattoos symbolize personal achievements. Some prefer to live isolated lives._

“Ma’am!” he said, saluting.

“At ease, Commander,” the General said in her usual serene tone, nodding and giving him a small smile as she passed into the cockpit. Gree relaxed a tad, then turned his gaze on Gunray, scowling. Back to work.

_Neimoidian: naturally competitive. Raised in hives and spend their first seven years as grubs. Normally shrewd businessmen. Have a death grip on the Trade Federation._

“Captain, have you made contact with the cruiser?” General Unduli asked.

“Yes, General,” replied one of their pilots. “We’ll patch you through now.” He pressed a button on his console and an image of three senate commandos appeared on a viewscreen over the pilots’ heads. _We’re really pulling out all the stops for this scum, aren’t we?_

“Jedi cruiser _Tranquility_ , this is General Luminara Unduli requesting permission to land.”

The senate commando in the center – a captain, judging by his special pauldron and open-faced helmet – addressed her. “You are cleared, General,” he said, respectfully. “We await your prisoner’s arrival.”

“Thank you, Captain Argyus,” General Unduli said. “I look forward to delivering him to you.”

Gunray settled his strange, yellow and red striped eyes on Gree and leaned in. “I am a man of great wealth,” he said, conspiratorially, “and I can be very generous to my allies.”

Gree turned to regard him, one eyebrow raised. Who did Gunray think he was? He was a clone trooper. He was totally loyal to the Republic. He couldn’t be _bought_. It was unheard of. It went against everything that made him who he was. Gree reached into his belt.

“That is a _very_ tempting offer, Viceroy,” he deadpanned. “In the meantime, I have a gift for you.” He pulled out a pair of binders and shook them in front of Gunray’s face, grinning. As Gree put the binders on Gunray and got him ready to move out, Commander Tano turned and stepped into the cockpit with General Unduli.

“Finally,” she said, looking out the viewport as they flew directly under the _Tranquility_ , “it’s been _such_ a boring trip.”

Rex was right: she did not like to be sitting still for too long.

As they docked with the cruiser, Gree unclipped his helmet from his belt and set it on his head, then grabbed his DC-15 carbine from where it was resting on the console next to him. Personally, he didn’t think this trip was going to be any less boring for the Padawan now that they were here. This was all just a precaution. Gunray was apparently very important and no chances were being taken with his capture and security.

As Unduli and Tano led the way onto the _Tranquility_ with Gree and Gunray bringing up the rear, the Neimoidian decided he wanted to get smart.

“This is an outrageous miscarriage of justice,” he spouted, slowing his gait. “I demand my litigator.”

No doubt he was panicking now that the jaws of justice were closing around his throat.

Gree gave him a very rough shove forward. “Keep moving,” he ordered.

Ahead, a team of five senate commandos was striding forward to meet them, all dressed up in their signature blue armor. At the head of the group was the captain the General had spoken to earlier, easily identified by his pauldron. The man – a human, not a clone – held his helmet under one arm. He was pale, with a funny dent in his chin and long, blond hair that was somewhat messy but slicked back all the same. In Gree’s personal opinion, he looked rather dull, but perhaps that was just how he looked when on-duty.

“Greetings, General,” he said, mildly. “We have the brig all ready for this traitor.” He fixed Gunray with a contemptuous glare.

Maybe he wasn’t so bad, after all.

“Very good, Captain,” Unduli nodded. “Commander Gree, let’s get underway.”

“Right away, sir,” Gree said, straightening. Then, he raised his voice at Gunray. “Let’s move!”

Deflating, the Viceroy shuffled forward, allowing himself to be taken into the custody of the senate commandos and lead away; deeper into the ship. Gree smirked to himself and followed at a distance. His interrogation was going to be fun to watch. The coward probably wouldn’t last ten minutes.

Then again, Jedi were the ones doing the interrogating.

Better make that five minutes . . .

_ _ _

Truthfully, the Jedi Council hadn’t actually sent Ahsoka to escort Nute Gunray. _Skyguy_ had sent Ahsoka to Rodia to check on Senator Amidala after he’d received a transmission from her informing him that she’d been involved in some kind of hostage situation and had ended up capturing Gunray with the help of another Senator and the Naboo Representative – Jar Jar Binks. Her Master, who had been very worried for some reason, couldn’t leave the siege they had been conducting. Neither could Rex. So, he’d told Ahsoka to go and attach herself to the cleanup of the debacle herself. She wasn’t exactly keen on leaving, but she still had little choice but to do as her Master said. So off she went.

Ahsoka was getting impatient.

She should be on the front lines, helping Rex and Master Skywalker wreck droids. Instead, she stood behind Master Unduli in Nute Gunray’s prison cell, her arms folded, glaring at the Neimoidian for all she was worth. The orange glow cast by the energy field protecting the prison cell’s door did nothing to flatter Gunray’s features. He was one ugly organism. Long, thin fingers, clammy skin, thin neck that protruded a little too far forward. It didn’t help that everything about him screamed ‘coward.’

Gunray sat behind a small table in the middle of the cell, staring up at Master Unduli, who had her hands folded and was gazing down at him serenely. Just as she had been for the past five minutes. She was just . . . talking. And it didn’t seem to be working.

“Your thoughts betray you, Viceroy,” she said. “I can sense your concern. The fear that you will lose the wealth and the power the war has given you.”

Gunray looked uncomfortable. “I – I have . . . no idea what you’re talking about,” he mumbled in his low voice.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. She tapped her finger against her arm, frowning. All her predator instincts told her that this just wasn’t working. That they should be doing something _more_ to get this sleemo talking.

“You hide a great many things,” Master Unduli continued, unperturbed, her eyes closed now. “The names of your secret allies, the locations of their bases.”

“I am an innocent pawn in all of this,” Gunray pleaded.

Ahsoka gritted her teeth. _Sure you are. And Rex’s favorite color is red._

Master Unduli actually scoffed at that. It was the first hint of any emotion Ahsoka had seen from her all day. “If you’re merely a pawn, then who are you protecting?”

“No one.” Gunray was shaking now. “I . . . I know _nothing_.”

Ahsoka’d had enough.

“Liar, _liar_!” She slammed the palm of her hand on the table, getting right up in Gunray’s ugly face. “I’m _tired_ of all this whining.” She drew her lightsaber and was across the table in a heartbeat, holding the blade an inch from Gunray’s throat. “Tell us what we want to know right now, or I will _gut you like a Rokarian dirt fish_.”

There was real terror in the viceroy’s eyes now, Ahsoka was pleased to see. He gave a startled cry and fell backwards off his chair, backing away from her on the floor.

“ _Padawan_ ,” Master unduli hissed. And suddenly Ahsoka was being dragged across the room by her upper arm. She deactivated her lightsaber. “Terror is not a weapon the Jedi use.”

But it was working!

“I wasn’t serious,” Ahsoka whispered back, confused as to what was so wrong. She’d seen Rex interrogate organic prisoners before, and _he_ was never so serene about it. There just was no reasoning with some beings. “But the only way he’ll talk is if he’s scared enough.”

She glanced back. Gunray was poking his head over the top the table, adjusting his ridiculous-looking hat. “Eh, perhaps I was too hasty,” he said. “Let us negotiate.”

Ahsoka smiled a bit, looking back up at Master Unduli. She frowned back. looking as though she was going to scold Ahsoka further. At that moment, however, the ship shook violently, causing both Jedi to nearly lose their balance. _Uh-oh._ That’s _definitely not supposed to be happening._

“Captain,” said Commander Gree’s voice from outside, “status report.”

She heard another clone answer over Gree’s commlink. “Droid fighters, incoming,” he warned. “They’ve brought boarding ships.”

Ahsoka lined up next to Master Unduli just in front of the door. If the tinnies were coming to free Gunray, the clones would need Jedi assistance to keep them at bay. “Green Company,” Gree said into his commlink, “prepare to repel the enemy.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Let us out, Captain,” Master Unduli said.

“Yes, General.” The senate commando captain – Argyus – pressed the button and deactivated the energy field that protected the door of Gunray’s cell. Master Unduli stepped out, followed by Ahsoka.

She stood beside the others, hands on her hips, waiting and already keyed up to fight. She wanted action on this trip. She just might get some.

“Green Leader to Commander Gree,” shouted a voice over Gree’s commlink. “Super battle droids have breached our hull. They’re headed for the detention level. We need reinforcements.” The sound of a blaster firing could be heard over the link, followed by the clone’s pained scream.

That was it.

“Commander,” said Master Unduli, stepping forward. “I’ll need your assistance.” As Gree put his helmet on and readied his blaster, the Jedi Master strode forward. Ahsoka followed close behind.

“Let’s go,” she said, trying to suppress a grin. Finally, this trip was going to get really interesting.

Unduli turned to her. “You will stay here with Captain Argyus,” she ordered. “Guard the Viceroy.”

What? Ahsoka started to protest. “But . . .” Unduli silenced her with a stern look. Evidently, she was still in the wrong for her different take on interrogation. Ahsoka bowed her head. “As you wish, Master.”

As the Jedi and the Commander walked off down the hall and towards the lift, Gunray appeared at the door behind Ahsoka. “It appears you are no longer in a position to negotiate after all, Padawan,” he said, smugly. “Perhaps after my rescue –”

Ahsoka rounded on him, snorting. “Rescue? Maybe they’re here to make sure you won’t talk.”

Gunray gulped nervously.

Knowing the Separatists, that was exactly what was going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much Rex in this chapter, outside of a few mentions, but you do get Gree - who was fun to write.
> 
> Thanks for over 1,000 hits and 50 kudos! I'm pretty surprised to get that much attention on what I initially thought would be a very niche story. I'll keep it coming


	15. Separate and Ever Deadly

**Republic cruiser _Tranquility_ , space**

“Sounds like your rescue didn’t work out after all,” Ahsoka said tauntingly through the door.

The sounds of battle and blaster fire had faded only a few seconds ago. Evidently the few droids the Separatists had sent were no match for Master Unduli, Commander Gree, and his men. No real surprise there. Still, she wished she’d been there to help out instead of standing around with the senate commandos. They hadn’t really needed her help.

“I . . . am ready to discuss our bargain again,” the Viceroy said, looking dejected.

“Padawan Tano,” said the voice of Captain Argyus. Ahsoka turned to see him walking down the hallway from the command center, “may I have a word?”

“Certainly, Captain,” Ahsoka replied. She turned back to Gunray. “If I leave, you won’t go anywhere, will you?”

“Ha. Ha.”

Ahsoka smirked and walked away from the cell, meeting the Captain halfway. “I’ve got the all-clear. The enemy has been repelled.”

“And their attempt to free Gunray has . . . failed?” Ahsoka peered past Captain Argyus. Her Togrutan hearing was picking something up. A faint hissing sound coming from above the command center. A hissing sound that she knew all to well. _A lightsaber._

A lightsaber cutting through durasteel.

And then a slim, feminine figure dropped right into the middle of the command center. In a matter of seconds, she had lashed out with her legs, kicking both senate commandos into unconsciousness before they could react. The figure stood. Ahsoka would recognize her anywhere. She rushed forward, stationing herself at the end of the hallway and drawing her lightsaber.

“If it isn’t the hairless harpy,” she said, her voice venomous.

“If it isn’t Skywalker’s filthy, obnoxious little pet,” snarled Asajj Ventress, a curved lightsaber hilt held in each of her pale hands.

“How nice of you,” Ahsoka mocked. “Tell you what, I’ll give you a merciful death.” Her last one-on-one with Ventress hadn’t gone so well, but that was only on day two of her being a Padawan. It had been many weeks since then, and Ahsoka now had much more practice wielding her lightsaber in combat. She thought she had a much better chance of coming out better this time.

Ventress ignited both her lightsabers and stood at the ready.

Ahsoka obliged.

She darted forward, striking out. The Sith assassin jumped into the air, dodging her swing, and retaliated with a vertical strike that would’ve cut her into if she hadn’t sidestepped it. She raised her lightsaber defensively and caught both Ventress’ ‘sabers on hers.

_Okay. Maybe I should reevaluate my strategy._

She backed up, playing totally defensive now, taking a step back into the hall but no more than that. She couldn’t let Ventress get past her and reach Gunray. From behind, she heard the sounds of Captain Argyus and his men assembling and raising their weapons.

“Shoot her!” Ahsoka ordered, stepping to the side to allow the men to get a clear aim. Blaster fire exploded from the passage and Ventress was forced back, blocking the shots as they came. The entire volley was deflected back, killing the two remaining guards and almost hitting Argyus as well, though he just managed to block the deflected bolt with his larger pauldron. It didn’t do him much good, however, as Ventress then Force-pulled him toward her and up over her head, leaving him slumped against the control console; out cold. Then she was on Ahsoka again, thrusting both her blades against hers.

“Skywalker’s not here to save you now,” she taunted, grinning manically.

“Good thing I don’t need saving,” Ahsoka said.

She forced Ventress back, then brought up her leg, intending to give the witch a good kick. She caught her leg, however, and sent her forward, forcing Ahsoka off balance. She was forced into a sudden split as Ventress took the opportunity to flip over her head and land further down the passage.

_Wow!_

_It’s a good thing I’m acrobatic._

Still on the floor, she twisted and raised her lightsaber, deflecting two more of Ventress’ blows.

“Over here!” called Gunray from down the hall. “Open this door and I’ll buy you a planet.”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes again.

Ventress, seeing that Ahsoka couldn’t pursue immediately, shut off her lightsabers and ran towards the Viceroy. Ahsoka cursed, picked herself up out of her split, and took off after her. Lightsaber raised, she reached them just as Ventress opened the door and stepped aside. Caught off guard, Ahsoka fumbled to adjust her course but failed. She tumbled into Gunray, who pushed off her and sent her sprawling to the floor of the cell. By the time Ahsoka picked herself up, the cell door was engaged once more. She was trapped inside and Gunray stood out in the hall with Ventress, laughing at her.

“Oh, yes, yes, such delicious irony!” he chortled. “How do you like your room now, youngling?”

Ahsoka growled and swiped at him with her lightsaber. It did nothing, of course, except bounce off the shield and cause the Neimoidian to step back a pace. It only made her feel marginally better.

“Halt, assassin!”

Ventress suddenly stepped into view once more, lightsabers blazing. Peering past her, Ahsoka saw Master Unduli sprinting down the hall, ‘saber in hand. She reached out one arm and Ahsoka knew what was coming. The door to the cell deactivated, allowing her to step outside and rejoin the fight just as Unduli crossed blades with Ventress.

Yet, the assassin was prepared and met both their blades effortlessly, holding them in place.

“Surrender,” Master Unduli ordered as Commander Gree led a team of clones down the hallway.

Ventress paused for a moment. Then, to Ahsoka’s extreme disbelief, she shut down both her lightsabers, placed them on her belt, and put her hands behind her head. _No way. Ventress would never –_

_Boom!_

The ship rocked violently, sending everyone in the room to the ground except Ventress, who used the opportunity to leap over Master Unduli’s head and sprint for the lift. Ahsoka could tell she was in a hurry because she didn’t even bother to kill Commander Gree or the two clones with him. She simply batted away their blaster bolts, Force-pulled open the lift, and dove inside, driving her lightsabers into the wall to slow her decent. By that time, the two senate commandos she’d knocked unconscious had gotten to their feet and were shooting at her, but it didn’t matter. She was already gone.

Ahsoka was on her feet by then and reached the lift’s open door at the same time as Master Unduli. She peered down after the assassin. They would have to go after, of course.

“What are we waiting for?” Ahsoka asked, and made to dive in after Ventress.

“Ahsoka!” Master Unduli grabbed her arm and pulled her back just as a lift flew down the shaft at top speed. If Ahsoka hadn’t been stopped, she would’ve been pulverized.

“Thanks.”

“Everything’s running haywire,” Captain Argyus reported, standing over the command terminal, “the doors, lifts. Communication’s down. Propulsion’s dead. She’s crippled the entire ship.”

Gree once more had a handle on Gunray and led him over, blaster held at his back. The two clones he’d brought with him formed up as well, and the senate commandos remained at the command station.

“Our attacker has come for Gunray,” Master Unduli said. “Stay here and guard him. I’ll confront her myself.”

She was going to leave Ahsoka behind? Again? “Master,” she said, “all due respect, but Ventress is too powerful for any one Jedi to fight alone. Let me help you.”

“I am more than capable of dealing with a lone assassin armed with undisciplined fighting skills,” Unduli maintained.

“But –”

“Stay here and keep a clear head,” she told her. And then she jumped into the lift and was gone.

_ _ _

Gree stood outside Gunray’s cell with his DC-15 in hand. The two remaining senate commandos, as well as Captain Argyus, stood around as well. Commander Tano paced restlessly in front of them. Very Togrutan. She believed she had prey to hunt elsewhere.

“Luminara Unduli may be a Jedi Master,” she said, “but she has no idea what that bog witch is capable of. _No idea_.” She turned away. “I can’t let her face that lowlife alone. Wouldn’t we have a better chance of stopping her if I helped?”

Gree didn’t answer. He didn’t have one.

Argyus, apparently, did.

“Sometimes being a good soldier means doing what you think is right. That’s why we’re superior to droids.”

Tano ate it up.

Gree wasn’t so sure about that. Orders were there for a reason. You were supposed to follow them. If you didn’t, people got hurt and plans fell through because someone, somewhere, didn’t agree and thought they knew better. That wasn’t how armies were supposed to operate. Clones were superior to droids because, while they followed orders all the same, they were more flexible, more creative, and had the very human drive to fight, die, and win. Machine code just couldn’t live up to that.

Doing what you think is right isn’t what made a good soldier.

Good soldiers follow orders.

_Stop that._

“I can’t disobey a direct order and leave my post, can I?” Commander Tano asked.

Gree knew she wanted him to say yes, if it meant going after someone who needed help. Still, he wasn’t going to lie to her – he was bad at it. “I wouldn’t,” he admitted.

“Don’t worry,” Captain Argyus, who appeared to be of a very different mindset, said. “We’ve got this under control, Master Jedi. Your friend won’t be going anywhere.”

“All I know is: I never risk my own skin if I don’t have to,” Gunray spoke up. Everyone turned to stare at him. “What?”

“Watch him closely,” Tano said.

“You can trust us, Commander,” Argyus assured her. She smiled, then turned and sprinted down the hallway, headed for the lift.

Rex would kill Gree if he found out he let her go rushing into danger and didn’t at least offer assistance. “Call us if you need help, ma’am,” he called after her.

She gave him a thumbs-up, then disappeared down the lift just as General Unduli had.

_ _ _

When Ahsoka entered what remained of the engine room, now a hellscape of broken durasteel and fire, she saw Master Unduli below her, trapped underneath a series of heavy pipes. Ventress stood over her, a lightsaber in either hand, ready to strike.

She lunged, letting out a shrill battle cry.

Ahsoka reached out her hand and _pushed._ Ventress stopped mid-fall and flew backwards into one of the pipes that lay around them. Without pausing, Ahsoka leaped down and ran over to the fallen form of Master Unduli, who had turned to look at her. She drew her lightsaber and cut away at the pipe trapping the Jedi Master, allowing her to rise to her feet and brush herself off.

“I know, I know,” Ahsoka said, jumping in before she could be scolded. “You told me to stay.” She reached down and retrieved Master Unduli’s fallen lightsaber, handing it to her.

But Unduli gave her a kind smile. “Well, as long as you’re here . . .”

Ahsoka smiled.

But the moment was short-lived, as at that moment, Ventress emerged from the pipe Ahsoka had sent her flying into, igniting both her lightsabers and looking murderous. Both Ahsoka and Undulia turned to face her, switching on their own ‘sabers, and made ready for a fight. Ventress ran at them, taking the offensive and matching each of their blades with her own. She traded blows left and right, barely pausing as she danced around the two Jedi. Ahsoka blocked and struck, moving this way and that, trying to get in under Ventress’ guard. But to no avail.

Barely a few seconds into the duel, the assassin disengaged, shutting off her lightsabers and leaping to higher ground, disappearing into the upper section of the engine room.

“We have to find her,” said Master Unduli. “We can’t let her get to Gunray.” Just like that, she too leapt upwards. Ahsoka followed, landing on what seemed to be a catwalk of sorts that allowed access to the main engine controls on pillars throughout the room. Now, though, the ship would clearly have to be completely refitted or just scrapped.

Even if they beat Ventress, Ahsoka wasn’t sure how they were going to escape this crippled ship when they couldn’t even call for help.

Movement ahead caught her eye.

Master Unduli saw it too. A pile of rubble was moving slightly; shifting as something underneath it moved. Ahsoka caught Unduli’s eye and gave her a slight nod. The Jedi Master rushed forward, Force-pulling the rubble away with her lightsaber raised. Ahsoka took position behind her only to see a WED-15 Treadwell droid laying off-kilter in the debris, relatively undamaged.

Ahsoka relaxed.

Lucky little droid.

Sighing, Master Unduli righted the Treadwell, allowing it to roll away as it squeaked in an agitated manner. The two Jedi continued on their way; lightsabers held ready.

“Ahsoka,” said Master Unduli, quietly.

“What happened to Padawan Tano?” she asked.

“This assassin,” Unduli continued, “I’ve . . . I’ve never faced an adversary like her.” She was clearly uncomfortable admitting it. “I should’ve listened to your advice.”

“Master,” Ahsoka drew them to a halt, looking up at the older woman, “I never meant to overstep my bounds, but –”

Unduli’s commlink suddenly went off.

_ _ _

Gree was bored.

The ship wasn’t moving. The Jedi were gone. There were no droids to fight. Commander Tano hadn’t contacted him requesting backup, though he doubted she would even if she needed it. All he could do was stand in the hallway, guarding the prisoner with the three remaining senate commandos, and wait for either the all-clear signal or the alarms to go off again.

Someone’s commlink began beeping behind him. He turned to see Captain Argyus checking his wristcomm, one eyebrow raised.

“What’s that, Captain?” asked one of the two guards.

“Oh, nothing to worry about.” Then Argyus turned on his heel and blasted both the senate commandos. They gave identical cries of pain and slumped to the floor, the holes in their chests emitting thin contrails of smoke.

“What are you doing?” Gree demanded, raising his DC-15 and taking a step back. Had he gone mad?

Argyus redirected his blaster and sent a few rounds Gree’s way, forcing him to take cover in an alcove in the hallway. Peering out, he sent a few poorly aimed shots back, but by then Argyus had deactivated the energy field around Gunray’s cell door and had yanked him out, holding the Neimoidian in front of him like a meat shield.

“No, please. Don’t!”

_Shit._

Gree couldn’t risk killing the prisoner.

“Oh, do shut up,” Argyus spat. “Count Dooku’s paying me a fortune to deliver your slimy carcass, so please try to stay alive.”

Gree keyed his commlink. “General Unduli,” he said, keeping one eye on Argyus and Gunray, “we’ve been betrayed. Argyus has freed Gunray!” He cut the link, hoping his message had gotten through. Even if it hadn’t, he still needed to take care of this situation on his own.

Argyus and his prisoner shuffled forward.

“Stop!” Gree warned, brandishing his blaster. “This is your last warning!”

“Don’t shoot,” Gunray pleaded. “I am an innocent pawn.”

“He won’t shoot,” Argyus said, damn him. “He doesn’t want to damage his prize.”

They had stopped moving forward now. Argyus stood, one arm around Gunray’s neck, the other wielding a DC-15 at waist height. Wait a minute . . . Gree didn’t need to kill Argyus. Not yet, at least. He just needed to disable him.

In the blink of an eye, Gree shifted his aim and pulled the trigger. He hit the blaster in Argyus’ hand, knocking it to the ground.

“Stand down, Captain,” he ordered, emerging from cover and standing at the end of the hallway, not five paces from the villainous duo.

“Come and get me.”

So it would be like that.

Gree stepped forward. In a flash, Argyus pushed Gunray towards him. Gree batted the Neimoidian aside and readjusted his aim, but it was too late. Argyus surged forward, kicking out with one leg. The blow caught Gree’s blaster, sending it careening upwards and out of his hands, knocking his helmet free as well. Both pieces of equipment fell to the ground. Now weaponless, Gree took a step back, striking a fighting stance. He was going to have to do this the hard way.

“Why’d you do it Argyus?” Gree asked, circling.

“A _clone_ like you would never understand,” he replied, walking casually in the same pattern as Gree, not ready to trade blows or anything. “I wanted a life with more than empty servitude.”

And for that you’d betray the Republic?”

“Like I told the Padawan,” Argyus laughed, “sometimes, being a good soldier means doing what you think is right.” His eyes darted towards the floor.

Gree knew exactly what he was going to do.

Argyus reached down lightning fast, placing one hand on the gun. Gree was faster, though. He put his foot down on the blaster, trapping Argyus there. As the Captain looked up at him, Gree drew one fist back and punched him right in the fast with all the strength he could muster, sending Argyus sprawling to the floor.

Smirking, Gree reached down and retrieved the blaster, leveling it at Argyus’ sprawled out form. “You and I disagree on what makes a good sol –”

Pain erupted in his skull and everything went dark.

_I forgot about kriffing Gunray._

_ _ _

“Protecting a Jedi Master is the role of the Padawan.”

“And teaching is usually the role of the Master. Master Skywalker should be proud.”

Ahsoka stood on the bridge of the _Tranquility_ , her arms folded, watching as Master Unduli strode away from her. It was nice to be appreciated once in a while, and it was high praise to have a Jedi Master like her admit that Ahsoka’s advice had been helpful and that Master Skywalker had done a good job of teaching her.

Still, it didn’t help compensate the fact that they had lost.

Ventress had engaged them, preventing them from reaching Gree and Argyus in time to stop the traitor from getting away with Gunray. Then, she’d slipped away herself, baiting Ahsoka before throwing her off a ledge with an explosive. If Master Unduli hadn’t caught her, she’d be dead.

The ship’s technicians had managed to get the communications array back up and running, allowing Ahsoka and Master Unduli to break the news to Master Yoda and Skywalker.

“It’s okay, Snips,” her Master had said. “I know you did your best.” He didn’t meet her eyes.

That hurt a bit.

Apparently, her best just wasn’t good enough.

Ahsoka would just have to train twice as hard so that next time – if there was a next time – she’d be prepared to face that witch down and win.

“Er, Commander?” Ahsoka looked up. Commander Gree was standing before her, helmet in one hand, holographic projector in the other. “I’ve got an incoming message for you.”

“Uh, for me?”

“Yes,” Gree nodded, holding out the projector. “You can . . . take this out in the hall.”

A little confused, Ahsoka took the projector and slipped out of the bridge. She walked over to an alcove by one of the transparasteel viewports and sunk to the ground. At this point, she didn’t care who was on the other end or how important they were; she needed to sit down.

“Alright,” she sighed, pressing the activation key. “Who’s calling me –”

“Hey there, littl’un.” The semi-transparent form of Captain Rex grinned up at her. He stood – where exactly, Ahsoka didn’t know – with his helmet clutched under one arm, still in all his armor. She saw that it was much cleaner than the last time she’d seen him, meaning the bombardment and siege they’d been participating in must have wrapped up while she had been away.

“Rex!” she said, a grin splitting her face. “You have _no idea_ how glad I am to see you.”

Rex laughed. “No,” he said. “But I can guess. Heard your little detour went sideways. Little more action than you were anticipating?”

“Something like that,” Ahsoka admitted, her smile fading. “Ventress showed up. She and some traitor senate guard freed Gunray and got away. I tried, but . . . I couldn’t stop her.”

“Kid,” Rex said, consolingly, his posture relaxing slightly, “if you _and_ General Unduli couldn’t stop her, I don’t think that’s anything to be ashamed of. This was a well-planned strike.” He glanced around, as though making sure no one was listening to him. Then, he continued in a low voice. “I don’t think General Skywalker could’ve done any better.”

Ahsoka smiled again. “Flattery? Do you need something, Rexter?”

“No, ma’am. Just making an observation.”

“If you say so.”

“I’ll be seeing you soon,” Rex said. “Our fleet’s next assignment is to run along and evacuate the _Tranquility_. Seeing as your engines were catastrophically damaged in the attack.”

“It’ll be good to see you again, Rex,” Ahsoka said.

“You too, kid.”

Her chest felt warm. Master Unduli and Commander Gree were alright company, but no one compared to Skyguy and Rexter. That reminded her . . .

“Oh, and Rex?”

“Yes?”

“When I get back, I wanna hear exactly what you tell other clones about me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Gree tries to be a good friend and setbacks are had by all.
> 
> Except Ventress.


	16. You and Me

**79’s, Coruscant**

“Come on, kids,” called Attie. “Why don’t you come sit with the big boys?”

Fives shuffled over to the table just behind Charger and Echo – who was clearly giddy to sit with so many veteran clones. 79’s, one of the few bars on Coruscant made specifically for clone troopers, was fairly empty that night. It was the middle of the week, and apparently most of the other units were out fighting somewhere. Aside from their group of 501st, there were a few Coruscant Guard boys – Thire, Jek, and Rhys – some 212th soldiers – Eyeball, Gearshift, Crys, and Sketch – and some lads from the 612th and 182nd that Fives didn’t recognize.

The circular table they now sat at was pretty full. He, Echo, and Charger were sitting with Sergeant Coric, Sergeant Del, Ridge, Nax, Attie, and Zeer; all survivors of the Battle of Teth and all veterans.

“What are your names?” Zeer asked, leaning forward over his Corellian Twister.

“Charger,” he said, almost instantly.

“My name’s Echo.”

“CT dash – Fives,” Fives said. It was a bit of an adjustment learning to introduce himself by his name rather than by his number. It went against what he’d learned on Kamino. Not that he was really complaining; using his name made him feel more human, even if it was a play on his number.

“We already know who _you_ are,” said Charger, always blunt and eager to speak.

The six older clones glanced around at each other.

“I guess we _do_ have a bit of a reputation,” Nax admitted, grinning.

“I just got lucky,” Ridge scowled, taking a heavy swig of a Rodian Tequila.

“We all did,” Del said, nudging him on the shoulder. “No need to beat yourself over the head with that fact.”

“We’re still here,” Coric said. “That’s all that matters.”

“Say,” Attie said, glancing the newcomers up and down. “How come you all haven’t painted your armor yet? ‘Sides you . . . kinda.” He pointed to the blue handprint that Echo had never washed from his chestplate.

Fives, Charger, and Echo looked at one another. They’d seen plenty of brothers in the 501st with blue paint slathered on their armor in personalized patterns and stripes; something they each had that made them wholly unique. Something that couldn’t be taken away from them or lost. Why _hadn’t_ they done that yet?

“Why haven’t we painted our armor yet, sir?” Echo echoed.

“That’s . . . what I asked.” Attie looked confused. Evidently, he hadn’t picked up on the reason for Echo’s nickname quite yet. “And there’s no need to ‘sir’ me. We’re all brothers here.”

“Er, right,” Echo said, nodding. Fives chuckled. “Anyway, we just . . . weren’t sure if we fit in yet. Wanted to give it some time.”

“Something like that,” Fives admitted.

“Well, you’ve certainly fit in by now,” Nax pointed out. “You’ve been with us since your stunt on the Rishi Moon – thanks for that, by the way – and no one’s been complaining about you since. As Yhorm Cole always says, ‘if it was meant to be, it was meant to be.’”

Yhorm Cole was a HoloNet newscaster that Nax pulled the best imitation of and quoted constantly.

“Thank you. I think.”

“I’ll tell you what,” Coric said. “Next time we ship out, I’ll show you where we keep the spare paint in the barracks.

“You’ll show us where you keep the paint?” Echo asked.

“That . . . that would be great, sir,” Fives said, a slow grin spreading across his face.

“Drop the ‘sir,’” Coric warned good-naturedly.

“Right.”

“Why _are_ we stuck here anyway?” Charger asked. “Shouldn’t we be out on the front?”

“Ah, Skywalker and Kenobi went on a blue-milk run to Florrum that went sideways. Ended up trapped by a bunch of Weequay pirates,” Zeer explained. “I heard Joc going on about it earlier. Some Coruscant Guard boys under Commander Stone were already on the way to negotiate for Count Dooku – who the pirates had also captured – so they’re dealing with it. Them, Senator Kharrus, and Representative Binks.”

“And not us?”

“Settle down, kid,” Del said. “We’ll get our turn in no time. There’ll be other battles.”

“Personally, I enjoy the downtime,” Ridge said.

“I’ll drink to that,” said Attie.

“You’ll drink to anything.” Zeer rolled his eyes.

Still, all nine clones raised their glasses and downed a round.

“More over here, Tann,” called Nax, waving to the pink-skinned Twi’lek bartender.

“Anyway, be thankful you’re not Captain Rex right now,” said Coric.

“Why not?” Fives asked.

Coric chuckled. “The moment Commander Tano heard Skywalker and Kenobi might be in trouble, she stormed into the barracks and began getting the men ready for a force deployment. I’m surprised you boys weren’t around for that. Anyway, halfway through, we found out that this wasn’t a ‘sanctioned’ mission when General Koon appeared and told us to stand down. She didn’t take the news that others were already handling the situation very well. Captain Rex has been assigned to keep her in her quarters at the Jedi Temple where she can ‘focus on her studies.’”

“More like stop her from hotwiring the nearest spacefaring vessel and jetting off to help Skywalker,” Attie joked.

“I can’t really blame her,” Fives admitted. “I’d want to be out there if Echo was in trouble.”

“I’m touched,” Echo smirked.

“Yeah. Ain’t the Jedi Way, though,” Ridge shrugged.

Tann appeared at their table with another round of drinks, passing them around. “You boys don’t get too wild tonight, you hear? It’s the middle of the week.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you, ma’am?” Attie winked at her.

She blushed and sauntered away. Fives thought he could see her hips swaying a bit more than usual.

“Nice try, Attie.” Nax rolled his eyes, one hand resting on his forehead.

He shrugged, grinning. “I’m wearing her down. One of these days . . .”

“You’ll what?”

“When I make it, I’ll get a holovid of the action. Show you sometime.”

“I’ll be sick.”

“Er,” Echo held up his glass, peering inside. “Do the bars know we’re not really old enough to drink this?”

“Who cares?” Charger asked, downing a shot of some kind of rum. “We _look_ old enough. And that’s all that matters.”

“Most of us probably won’t be around by the time we actually reach the legal age here – seventeen,” Del pointed out.

Fives frowned. That was a rather dour thought. “Cheery.”

“Really?” Zeer asked. “I can understand seventeen making someone a legal adult, but a legal adult and able to drink at the same time? Sounds like a recipe for disaster.”

“The Coruscanti like to party, I guess,” Ridge chuckled darkly. “Wanna get to it as soon as possible.”

“Anyway, that’s why we’re enjoying it now,” Charger said. “There’s plenty of things no one knows about us. Are we all the same or all different? Are we adults or kids? Are we legal citizens or property? Are we really humans or just biological droids? At least there’s an upside to being a second-class citizen. If that.” He downed half his glass.

Everyone stared at him.

“I had no idea alcohol turned you into a philosopher,” Fives said.

_ _ _

“Rex, this is so stupid!”

Rex sat on the small set of steps that led from the door down into the dormitory that Ahsoka and General Skywalker shared in the Jedi Temple. He leaned forward, his arms resting on his knees and his helmet on his head, and watched as Ahsoka paced around the mostly empty living area. He could feel the tension, worry, and anger radiating off her in waves.

“Ma’am, I –”

“We should be out there hunting down those pirates and breaking out Skyguy and Master Obi-Wan! I can’t believe the Chancellor and the Council are just letting the Coruscant Guard handle it. It should be _us_ out there!”

He got the distinct impression she wasn’t really listening to him.

“Kid, it’ll be fine. They –”

“My studies are the only thing keeping us here. Or maybe its just because I’m a Padawan and they don’t trust me to be able to lead you guys in combat. Which is _such_ banthashit, by the way.”

“Littl’un, listen –”

He was trying every nickname he had, but nothing was working.

“And furthermore, the Council can –”

“ _Ahsoka!_ ” He cringed inwardly. He wasn’t supposed to say her name – it wasn’t his place.

It got her attention, though.

She stopped pacing. Her head snapped around and she locked eyes with him though his helmet. _She’s strangely good at that._ He held both his hands up, palms flat.

“Rex?”

“You need to calm down,” he said, gently as he could. “Half this wing is probably wide awake. It’s the middle of the night and I’m supposed to be making sure you do your studies.”

Ahsoka sighed. She didn’t run off to grab her datapad and get to work, but she also didn’t return to pacing and ranting. One step at a time.

“I don’t think anyone heard me,” she said. “The walls of Jedi quarters are somewhat soundproofed. Helps with meditating.”

Rex ran a hand over his visor. That wasn’t really the point. “You have work to be doing.”

“ _We_ have work to be doing.”

“They’ll be fine,” Rex said. “I promise.”

 _Fuck,_ why _would I say that? I can’t promise that. Ever._

Ahsoka stood taller than him in their current circumstance, but the look she gave him made her seem much smaller. Helpless. Defeated. Nothing like her usual, fiery self. “You really think so?”

“Yeah.” He had no choice but to commit now; he’d already said the words. “General Skywalker and General Kenobi can both more than handle themselves against some pirates. They’ve been doing this type of thing together since before you and I were ever in the picture. Besides, Senator Kharrus is an excellent negotiator. I’m not very familiar with Commander Stone and his boys, but I’m sure they’re airtight. I know he’s a good _vod_. And Representative Binks . . . well . . .” _He did wield a lightsaber on Mimban._ “I’m sure everything’ll be fine.”

He did his best to exude _something_. Confidence, hope, assurance, calm. Whatever.

Ahsoka closed her eyes. She actually seemed to feel his emotions for a moment. But that wouldn’t make sense. At the very least, she understood what he was saying. She sighed. “How do you do that, Rexter?”

“Do what?” Rex raised an eyebrow.

“Always make me feel better.”

He grinned. “Because you trust me. Because I’m always right.”

She held her fist with her other hand, looking down. “I do trust you,” she said. “More than anyone. More than Skyguy, I think.”

Rex’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s . . .” he wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. “That’s high praise, ma’am.”

“No ‘ma’am,’ please.” Ahsoka rolled her eyes.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Rex.”

“Yes, er, littl’un.”

“Okay.” She didn’t move.

“Are you going to do your work?” Rex asked.

“Are you going to take off your helmet and sit on the couch with me?”

“If I get up, will you make a run for it? Answer honestly.”

Ahsoka snorted. “If I lie, how will you know?”

“I dunno,” Rex said. Truthfully, he really didn’t. “I’ll just . . . know.”

Ahsoka stared at him for a moment, as though trying to decide if he was good for it or not. “Touché,” she admitted, finally.

“I suppose,” Rex said, folding his arms, “we’re at an impasse.” The pair of them stared at each other for a few moments. Ahsoka would break before long, Rex knew. Even if she didn’t, he could always just sleep right there in his armor and set a proximity alarm on his helmet. She didn’t know about that little trick. As it turned out, though, he was right.

“Fine.” Ahsoka’s shoulders sagged and she rolled her eyes. “I’ll stay and get to my studies. Under one condition.” She held up one of her index fingers.

“Yeah?”

“Either you tell me what you say to other clones about me, or you tell me what _vod_ means,” she said. “You and the boys have this whole half-a-language that I don’t know anything about. I hear you say stuff like that all the time to each other and I don’t know what it means. It’s driving me crazy.”

Hm. She drove a hard bargain.

“It’s, er, _Mando’a_ ,” Rex said, deciding that she was going to have to try harder than that for him to divulge clone gossip. “The language of the Mandalorians. Some of us – especially those who are older – took the culture to heart. I was in one of the groups that actually trained under Jango Fett. I met him. When you see something like that . . . When you’re just a clone of someone else . . . I don’t know. You _want_ something. A heritage of any kind. So, we took some aspects of Mandalorian culture for ourselves. Like the language.”

“I get it,” Ahsoka said. Her voice was low. “I . . . don’t really know too much about my own culture. Just bits and pieces. There’s more Jedi in me than Togruta, I guess.”

Rex thought – not for the first time – that this was just another way in which the Jedi and clones weren’t all that different. Trained from a young age to serve the Republic, forced into a war they didn’t know too much about, having to come up with their own culture despite having a code they were supposed to adhere to at all times.

“ _Vod_ means ‘brother,’” Rex said. “Well, actually, it could mean sister, too. _Mando'a_ is a genderless language. But to us, it means brother. All our brothers are _vod'e_.”

“Why don’t you all use it more often?” Ahsoka asked.

“Well . . .” Rex said, unsure of just how much he should divulge. He trusted her, too. Maybe not to the same extent as she trusted him – that seemed to be a pretty high pedestal – but well enough. “The Kaminoans didn’t like us using it too much. Thought we were talking about them. We _were_ , of course. The same principle applies to the Jedi. Sometimes, when the boys can’t seal their helmets, they just use _Mando’a_ to talk about Jedi behind their backs. Wouldn’t want them figuring out our little language, would we?”

“No,” Ahsoka giggled. “I suppose not. I’m sorry if that was pretty personal.”

“It’s okay, kid.” Rex waved her off. “It’s one of the few things that’s ours. No one can take if from us. Even the armor we paint is GAR-issue. _Mando’a_ isn’t. Not every brother is fluent, but we all at least know the basics.”

“I understand,” Ahsoka said, smiling at him. “Thank you for sharing that with me, Rex. And for the history lesson . . . Gramps.” She turned and disappeared into her private quarters.

Rex sat on the steps, somewhat affronted, staring after her. “I’m _ten!_ ”

She reappeared, carrying a small case, a datapad, and a stylus, still laughing. “Rex, you’re weird is what you are,” she said. “You’re ten. You’ve got the body of a twenty-year-old and the mind of a pubescent teenager. Who knows what exactly you are?” She flopped onto the couch and put her feet up on the table in front of it. She patted the area just beside her. “Now _come here_. If you’re here to make sure I don’t sneak out and I do my work, do your job.”

“If you want me to stop calling you ‘ma’am,’” Rex muttered, standing and walking over to the couch, “Stop bossing me around all the time.”

Ahsoka smirked as he sat down next to her, removing his helmet and placing it on the table. “Where’s the fun in that?” she asked.

Rex peered over her shoulder intermittently as she studied ancient Jedi texts, the Force, different species and cultures, and even battle strategy. _Must be a new curriculum, what with the war on and everything._ It was a bit hard for him to keep up with, even if it seemed like it might be interesting. He’d have to scan the HoloNet for some of that information later.

At some point, Rex dozed off and fell asleep. It might have been on Ahsoka’s shoulder, he couldn’t really remember.

To his surprise, she woke him up the next morning.

She hadn’t left; she’d kept her word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluff. Fluff. Fluff. 
> 
> The boys are back in town and Ridge got really lucky (earlier chapters now reflect that as well).
> 
> I loved writing this chapter. As well as the next 'arc.'
> 
> Yeah, Yhorm is made up. Dunno why I named him after that mf from Dark Souls 3 that's currently giving me the runaround.  
> (Update: I beat Yhorm. Finally realized what the Storm Ruler was for.)


	17. Apprehension

**Upper Atmosphere, Quell**

Captain Rex surveyed the battle taking place in the atmosphere below, one hand clamped tightly on the overhead rail. Their gunship was descending quickly towards the Republic cruiser that was the subject of their rescue mission. Through the smoke and cloud cover, he glimpsed two other cruisers, burning and falling to the planet below. Two whole cruisers. Gone. Thousands of lives lost.

“Rocket droids incoming!” warned the pilot. He was right; Rex saw swarms of the blasted things leveraging the jetpacks built into their backs to fly towards the cruiser at breakneck speed, swarming like insects into holes in the ship’s hull. They would overwhelm whatever remained of the crew within minutes. They _had_ to succeed.

“Those droids are boarding Aayla’s ship!” General Skywalker shouted. Rex glanced at him. _You don’t say, General._ Rex was continually glad that Jedi could only sense emotions and intent, not actually read minds. From her position next to him, he saw that Ahsoka was looking at the General with similar thoughts running through her own head.

From above, there was a sudden ‘thump.’ Rex leaned slightly out of the gunship’s crew bay, looking up. One of the rocket droids had attached itself to the top of the ship and was crawling toward the pilots, its intent undoubtedly murderous. Suddenly, it grabbed onto the copilot’s canopy and ripped it away, leaving the poor _vod_ extremely exposed.

“Take care of that clanker,” Skywalker ordered, glancing up. Rex slipped one of his blaster pistols from its holster. “I’ll be onboard Aayla’s cruiser.”

“Master,” Ahsoka shouted over the din of combat and the larty’s engine, “are you sure that’s the wisest thing –”

But he had already jumped. Rex looked down to see his General grab onto the back of one of the rocket droids as it shot past. He’d be alright. Skywalker was _always_ alright. Lucky bastard. The sound of blaster fire directly overhead caught Rex’s attention. The copilot ducked and – in a move that must have absolutely terrified him – rolled out of the cockpit and dove for the troop bay. Moving quickly, Rex surged forward and grabbed onto one of his brother’s hands, dragging him into the relative safety of the passenger compartment with Ahsoka’s help.

The gunship swerved. The rocket droid disappeared, apparently satisfied that it had caused enough damage for them to be thrown off-course. Rex quickly helped the copilot to his feet before reestablishing his death grip on the overhead rail. With no copilot, the larty swerved this way and that, veering down towards the hull of the rapidly approaching cruiser.

They were going to crash. He opened his mouth, his throat dry.

“Hey, kid –”

“I know, _I know_ ,” bellowed Ahsoka, gripping the bay door with white fingers. “I’m hanging on!” It truly was a miracle that most of them survived. The gunship crashed nose-first into a large hole in the hull of the cruiser. It must have been a desperate move by their remaining pilot, who was most certainly now dead. Rex sent him a silent, mental ‘thanks.’ Not that it mattered.

Ahsoka dove out of the gunship the moment she was steady, lightsaber blazing to life. Rex dropped down beside her firing with both his DC-17s, along with the three other troopers that had survived the impact and the copilot, who had his own blaster pistol. Ahsoka darted down the corridor they had landed in, which was filled with more rocket droids, slashing and deflecting with every motion of her small body. Rex stayed right on her six, covering her.

He was on autopilot. This was a textbook rescue operation, provided nothing drastic happened. Droids were terrible at fighting in close, tightly packed corridors like the ones on Republic cruisers, as their frames made them susceptible to concentrated fire and they were easily slowed when forced to try and make their way through the bodies of their fallen comrades. Ahsoka cut her way through hallway after hallway. Rex was sure she was leading them to Skywalker, using their – _what was it?_ – their ‘Training Bond.’

Yep. There he was: slicing cleanly through one rocket droid and spinning to block the fire from a second one in a single, fluid motion. As Rex, Ahsoka, and a trio of 327th troopers they had picked up on the way drew even with him, Skywalker stabbed his lightsaber through the abdomen of a rocket droid and sent it flying into a group further down the passageway, revealing two other forms fighting their way through another onslaught of droids.

One was unmistakably Jedi General Aayla Secura; easily identifiable by her blue skin, lekku, and – if Rex was honest – general lack of much clothing. The other form was a clone. The yellow markings, helmet-mounted electrobinnoculars, kama, and pauldron identified him as clone Commander Bly, General Secura’s second-in-command. As Rex and the others drew even with them, the pair paused from fighting to look back.

“Nice entrance, Skywalker,” General Secura said, jumping into motion once more. The group moved further down the hallway at a smart pace, fighting all the way. “How do you plan to get us out of this mess?”

“Well,” Skywalker said, slicing a droid that got too close, “I have a ship docking – in the lower hanger – as we speak.” Rex grinned. Good man. Skywalker always had a plan. And if he didn’t, he was working on one. The eight of them rounded a corner, only to come up short as a few battle droids took aim at them.

“Uh, hold it!” The one in the lead warned, sounding a little unsure of itself. Then, the door behind it slid open, revealing row upon row of rocket droids. The droid, now full of confidence, turned back to them and leveled its blaster.

“Fall back!” Bly ordered, turning on his heel and rocketing back down the way they had come. Rex followed him, along with the three other troopers – Lucky, Flesh, and Cameron – while the three Jedi momentarily covered them before following their lead, Skywalker bringing up the rear. Always the last one out. Bly and General Secura led them down two other hallways that were thankfully devoid of droids before they reached a passage that ended in a dead-end. No, a door!

“We made it!” Ahsoka cried, rushing forward and pressing the activation button.

“Gateway locked in, sir,” reported a voice over an open comm channel. It must be one of the pilots. Their ship was just on the other side of this door.

Then, something drastic happened.

Rex and the others were halfway through the gateway when Skywalker suddenly lagged behind. He turned, peering back into the ship. “It’s too late!” he called. Rex saw what he was staring at and it turned his blood cold. A series of massive explosions were ripping through the corridor behind them, heading straight for their position. Skywalker moved.

Before Rex knew what had hit him, he was thrown backwards by something he couldn’t see – _the Force_.

“Master!” cried Ahsoka. From his position on the floor, Rex saw that the little Togruta had already regained her footing and was pounding on the door that was already most of the way closed, separating all of them from Skywalker. Rex surged to his feet just in time to catch a glimpse of his General with his back to them, hands outstretched as though he were trying to use the Force to hold back the explosion.

Then the door shut completely. A deafening explosion echoed from the other side of the door. The floor beneath Rex’s feet shuddered. Ahsoka was already on her commlink.

“Don’t move the ship,” she ordered.

“Are you guys alright down there?” that was one of the pilots.

“We’ll be fine,” Rex managed to reply, though he knew the aggressive tone in his voice was conveying anything besides a sense of calm. “Just give us a minute.” Ahsoka scrambled to the door control, pressing it frantically. Skywalker must still be alive; she must be able to feel him. He knew Jedi could sense when another Jedi had been killed, especially if that Jedi was their Master. She wouldn’t be trying this hard to reach him if she knew he was just a corpse.

Right?

Rex clung to that hope as the door – it must’ve been damaged – inched open, only revealing a small square before stopping. Ahsoka peered through the square for a split second, and what she saw must have cajoled her into action, because a moment later she had ignited her lightsaber and was cutting a hole through the door. Rex jumped forward when he realized she was then dragging Skywalker himself through the hole. Was he alive? Dead? He looked awful. Eyes closed, mouth open, body limp.

“Ahsoka,” General Secura urged, “we have to leave now!”

She brushed past Rex, grabbed General Skywalker’s free arm, and helped Ahsoka drag the General into the corridor they all stood in. The moment his limp feet cleared the threshold, Bly slammed his fist into the door controls, causing the hatch to rocket shut, sealing with a pneumatic hiss. The he bolted.

“I’m gonna turn on the deflector shields!” he announced. General Secura followed him moments later.

Rex dropped to his knees beside Ahsoka, who was cradling her master’s unmoving body in her lap. The ship shuddered, but Rex paid it no mind. They were fine now. They’d detach from the ship and be on their way. The priority now was General Skywalker. He looked mostly alright from the outside aside from a few burn marks and singes to his clothing, but if he had internal damage, he could be in serious trouble. He needed medical treatment. _Soon_.

Rex held up one hand, then hesitated. Should he touch her? He didn’t know. That wasn’t really something he did with Ahsoka aside from the occasional high-five. On Teth, he remembered her shying away from his touch. But after her master had been wounded over Bothawui, she’d held onto his bracer like a lifeline. It was all very confusing.

In the end Rex decided she could use a little comfort right now and set his hand on the top of her head, right between her montrals. She tensed for a moment, but didn’t shrug him off. After a moment, she actually leaned into his touch. Her head drooped, her headtails swaying slightly as they hung over Skywalker’s face.

“It’ll . . .” Rex’s voice sounded strained. He cleared his throat. “It’ll be alright, kid.” Ahsoka said nothing. Rex wondered if she was in shock. Then he saw the gleam in her eye and knew she was on the verge of crying. _Oh no . . . they did_ not _train me for this_. “Uh, here.” he released her and grabbed Skywalker, lifting him up onto his back much like he had when he had rescued him after Bothawui. _History has a nasty way of repeating itself, doesn’t it?_ “I’ll help you get him to the medbay.”

He knew the _Consular_ -class cruiser they had boarded had a medbay, but it wasn’t near well-equipped enough to fully treat General Skywalker. Still, it could stabilize him long enough for them to retreat to the _Resolute_ and get him proper care. Ahsoka still said nothing, but allowed Rex to carry Skywalker and lead her through the ship and to the medbay. The ship shook once more, but again Rex paid it no mind. Even if they were in trouble, there was nothing he could really do about it right now.

Upon entering the medbay, Rex strode over to one of the two beds in the room and carefully shifted his General around, setting him on it as gently as he could. Skywalker didn’t move. Didn’t react. The ship’s medical droid shuffled to his side and Rex stepped back, letting it take control of the situation. It could probably do a far better job than him at addressing whatever was wrong with his General.

Rex glanced at Ahsoka, who stood beside him, staring down at the prone form of her master on the bed. Kriff, he had _no_ idea how to handle this situation. Caring for emotional teenagers wasn’t exactly part of his flash training. Then again, he supposed _he_ was something of an emotional teenager himself.

“I’m . . . gonna go check up on the cockpit,” he said, turning and striding to the door. “Comm me if anything changes, alright?”

She might have nodded. He wasn’t sure.

Guilt welling up inside him, Rex turned his back on her and walked back out into the hallway, striding quickly towards the ship’s cockpit. He felt awful for leaving Ahsoka alone when she seemed so small, so vulnerable, but he truly had no idea what he could do for her that wasn’t crossing some boundary or another. Hug? Absolutely not. Comforting words? Worthless at the moment. Pat her on the head? When he did that, she’d almost cried, and he had even less of an idea of how to handle that than their current situation.

When he reached the cockpit, it was in utter chaos.

_ _ _

Ahsoka wished Rex had stayed.

Ahsoka wished she wasn’t alone with only the silent medical droid for company.

Ahsoka wished her Master would wake up.

None of her wishes came true. What was she supposed to do? It wasn’t like she’d never been without Anakin before, but she always knew where he’d been and that he wasn’t in life-threatening danger and she had orders or a mission or something to keep her busy. Now? He was right here – right in front of her – wounded and maybe even dying and she couldn’t do a thing about it. She wished she knew Force-healing.

The least she could do was stay by her Master’s side; offer him her support in the only way she knew how.

Why had Rex left her? Couldn’t he tell that she didn’t want to be alone?

When he had put his hand on her head while she had been holding Anakin’s limp form, she had felt so relieved. It had been so long since she’d felt that kind of physical support from _anyone._ She hadn’t realized just how starved for touch she had been. She wasn’t even sure if the tears that had sprung to her eyes were from relief or because she almost – _almost –_ felt safe enough to cry around Rex. To let go of the Jedi “detachment” facade that she kept up around everybody else.

The door behind her slid open.

_Rex –?_

“I need you with Commander Bly up on the bridge right now,” said Master Aayla Secura. The Twi’lek woman strode over to stand beside her.

Was she crazy? Did she _see_ the state her Master was in? “I should stay,” she said, her voice full of more conviction than she thought possible at the moment. “Commander Bly doesn’t need my help. Anakin does.”

“You can help Anakin by getting this ship to safety.”

Ahsoka opened her mouth.

“General Secura, we have a problem.” Commander Bly entered the room, helmetless. His hair was barely any longer than Rex’s, though it was much more visible because it was black. On either cheek, he had strange-looking symbols tattooed in yellow.

“What is it, Commander?” Both Jedi turned to face him.

Bly entered the room, looking nervous. He sighed, crossing to a viewscreen on the opposite wall. “In our haste to escape, the navicomputer’s coordinates were inputted incorrectly. And, well,” He pressed a button on the viewscreen and a diagram appeared, showing a large, red object on one side of a black background and a small model of their cruiser on the other, “we’re headed right for a star.”

Ahsoka didn’t have a choice then. Either she left Anakin and headed to the bridge to help, or they would all die. She rushed out the door with the others, but couldn’t help casting one last, scared glance backwards. The medical droid loomed over her master, prodding him gently.

_I_ will _save you._

When Ahsoka and Master Secura reached the bridge, Commander Bly was already at the controls, desperately trying to pull them out of hyperspeed. Outside, the spinning, blue and black lights of hyperspace churned by at high speed. As Ahsoka dashed up to the pilot’s seat, she was dimly aware of Rex pulling back from an exposed control panel he had been fiddling with, sparks flying as he pulled back, stung. As she fumbled with the main controls, Rex scrambled to his feet and positioned himself directly behind her.

She pressed button after button, all to no avail. The panels before her sparked dangerously. Whatever had gone wrong up here, it had done some major damage. Beside her, Commander Bly slammed his fist into the main panel, hopelessness etched into his face.

“It’s no use,” he fumed. “The navigation computer’s completely _fried_.” She detected the same vehemence in his voice as when Denal talked about his hatred of droids or when Nax was pulling one of his ‘Nute Gunray’ impressions.

“Shut down all the power circuits to reset the coordinates,” Master Secura ordered, instantly taking control of the situation.

It made sense – the best way to solve a problem with most machines was almost always to switch it off and switch it back on again. _Everybody_ knew that. But . . . wait. If they shut off all the power . . .

“That will cut off Anakin’s life support!” she said.

Master Secura met her gaze. “I don’t like it any more than you do, but it’s a risk we’re going to have to take.”

Ahsoka took a deep breath. It was fine. It would only be for a few seconds. She could do this. She tapped a few buttons on her panel. “We’re switching off primary power units,” she announced.

“We’re cutting it awfully close,” Rex muttered, his nervousness radiating off him in the Force, even if it didn’t come through in his voice.

“Ready to shut off auxiliary power,” Secura said.

Ahsoka glanced back to see the Jedi Knight stationed beside the secondary power switch, ready to pull it at a moment’s notice. She breathed. “On three,” she said. “One . . . two . . . Three!”

There was a dull whirring sound from behind as Master Secura pulled the lever and the power that surged throughout the ship cut out. In an instant, all the lights on the console before Ahsoka winked out and she was thrown back against the seat as the artificial gravity disappeared and inertia took over. She felt Rex gripping her seat from behind to stop himself being thrown backwards. The blue and black of hyperspace vanished, replaced by the light from a star so close Ahsoka thought she could feel the heat radiating off of it even through the closed confines of the ship. If the transparasteel viewport in front of her wasn’t shielded against bright lights, she was sure she would have been blinded.

“We’re out of hyperspace,” Commander Bly shouted, “resume all power!”

_Klink!_

Rex was suddenly gone and Ahsoka heard a grunt of pain from behind, but she couldn’t turn around to look – the opposing forces of inertia and gravity had her pinned to the pilot’s seat. Nothing happened. They were getting closer and closer to the star until it was the only thing visible through the viewport. _We’re not gonna make it_.

“Switch the power back on,” Bly shouted, real panic entering his voice. “What are you waiting for? Hurry. _Hurry_.”

Suddenly everything came back on at once. Ahsoka leaned forward in her seat as lights all along the console flickered to life again. They were back in control! Turning back on all the pilot’s training Anakin had given her, she grabbed the control stick in front of her and pulled a lever to her left. The ship swerved out of the star’s path, its gravity field working like a slingshot and causing the ship veer off at an odd angle. There wasn’t much more she could do. Something else was wrong with the engines.

“Well, we’re not gonna crash into the star,” Ahsoka said, “but we’re definitely gonna hit that planet.” The ship rumbled as it entered the planet’s upper atmosphere, buffeting Ahsoka against her seat. A huge, open field loomed before them, stretching for kilometers and kilometers off into the horizon. Smoke and fire from the ship’s outer hull began obscuring her field-of-view.

“Brace for impact!” Rex shouted.

Ahsoka held the steering with a durasteel, Force-assisted grip. She knew that if she didn’t keep this bucket as steady as possible, they’d spin out and be completely obliterated on impact. She was _not_ going to let that happen.

They hit the ground.

Ahsoka’s teeth slammed together painfully as she jerked forward in her seat, barely able to keep her head from colliding with the console. As they bounced and skidded along the unyielding ground, the transparasteel windows shattered. After sliding over the grassland below for at least half a kilometer, the ship finally ground to a halt; battered, broken, and burning.

Rex was immediately in motion. “We need to go,” he said. “The ship might not be safe.”

“Ahsoka and I will get Skywalker,” Aayla offered. “You get the remaining men off.”

“Copy that.”

Rex and Bly disappeared.

_ _ _

Rex kicked open the cruiser’s side door, putting his full force behind the blow. “Everyone, out!” he bellowed. With damage this bad, there was always a chance the engines had become unstable, turning the innards of the ship into a ticking time bomb.

Bly and Flesh darted out, clutching weapons and followed closely by Lucky. Rex turned back to see Cameron limping along the corridor, falling behind. He grabbed the younger trooper under the arm and escorted him out of the ship, dropping the meter or so from the passage to the ground as carefully as he could be for helping the other clone into a sitting position as far away from the wreckage as possible.

He glanced around to see Ahsoka and General Secura race out of the ship, dragging Skywalker’s limp form between them. A split second after their exit, the passage exploded, causing hungry flames to shoot out, just barely missing the three Jedi. Breathing heavily, Secura and Ahsoka set Skywalker on the earth and sank to their knees.

“Well – we made it,” General Secura gasped. “And Master Skywalker is still alive.”

“I’m just glad he wasn’t awake to see that landing,” Ahsoka breathed. Rex smirked. He was glad she had kept at least _some_ of her good humor intact. It was a welcome change from her earlier emotional turn. Guilt twisted Rex’s stomach, but he pushed it away. He had to focus.

“He would have been proud,” General Secura said. The pair pushed themselves to their feet.

“I’ve certainly perfected the art of demolishing ships and almost getting my Master killed,” Ahsoka said, ruefully, glancing down at General Skywalker’s inert form.

Rex tuned their conversation out and motioned to Bly, who had finally put his helmet on. “We need to set up a camp,” he said. “Who knows how long we’ll be here before help arrives.”

“Agreed,” said the other clone, stepping over to him. “I’ll have Lucky and Flesh set up a perimeter with me. Cameron can assist you with whatever camp you decide to build. I’m sure the Jedi will want to build a shelter for Skywalker.”

“Copy that.” Bly outranked him. And he wasn’t Cody, so Rex let him take the lead. Bly took the two clones he’d named and began securing the crash site. Rex trekked over to Cameron, who was still sitting up on the ground where he’d left him. “You okay, kid?”

He looked up. “I’ll live, sir. Might’ve cracked a rib, but I don’t think it’s serious.”

“Any injury can be serious if you let it,” Rex said, offering him a hand up. “Be careful about moving too much.” He wasn’t Coric, Boro, or Kix, but he knew enough about basic battlefield care to tell him that much.

“Yes, sir.” He let Rex haul him up. “What do you need?”

“We’re gonna set up camp around the ship,” Rex told him. “Maybe you can get a fire going. Don’t wander off, but see if you can find something flammable. We don’t know what the conditions on this planet are yet.”

“Yes, sir.” Cameron saluted – thankfully, he had the sense not to straighten up too much – and limped off to search for firewood, carrying his DC-15 with him. Rex wasn’t sure what planet they were on – he didn’t even know what _star system_ they were in. In all the commotion, he hadn’t had time to check the ship’s navigational data before the fiasco that led to their crash landing.

“Captain Rex.” Rex turned upon hearing his name and saw General Secura waving him over. Commander Bly stood next to her and Ahsoka was not far off, using her lightsaber to cut away at two fairly sizable sections of the wreckage. He jogged over.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Ahsoka and I are going to construct a shelter for Master Skywalker,” Secura explained. “Once we have the pieces, I want you and Commander Bly to help set it up.”

Rex nodded. “Will do, ma’am.”

So, after Ahsoka had finished cutting away pieces of the bulkhead and General Secura had used the Force to position them over Skywalker in the shape of a tiny, angular hut, Rex and Bly were kept busy using spare tape, wire, and gravity to secure a makeshift canopy over the General’s body. By this time, Lucky and Flash were taking turns walking the perimeter, and Cameron had gotten enough sticks together for a small fire.

“Anakin doesn’t have much time.” Rex overheard General Secura say to Ahsoka. “We have to find help tonight.” The sun was already beginning to set, coating the grasslands around them in a warm, peaceful glow. It would have been relaxing. If they hadn’t crash landed with no means of transport off-world and his General wasn’t lying prone in a makeshift shelter, dying.

“Okay,” Ahsoka said. “You and Bly go south. Rex and I will stay here with Anakin.” Rex couldn’t help but admire the young Togruta for attempting to take control of the situation. She really seemed to be doing her best to both watch over her Master and proactively search for ways to heal him.

But apparently that wasn’t good enough for the older Jedi. “No, Ahsoka,” she said. “In order to get help quickly, we must work together.”

“I can’t leave him,” Ahsoka protested. “Master, I know if I was hurt, he’d never leave _me_ behind.”

“I know this is hard, Ahsoka,” General Secura assured her, placing her hands on her hips. _Eyes up, Captain._ “But Anakin has to stay behind and we have to go _now_.” Her voice softened. “There’s nothing more we can do for him.” Ahsoka looked down, defeated. “We must do all we can to get off this planet. As a Jedi, it is your duty to do what is best for the group.”

Ahsoka looked down at her Master one last time, then turned, looking off in the direction of the setting sun.

Rex thought about what the Jedi Knight had said. He supposed this was just one of those lessons Ahsoka was supposed to learn about ‘attachment’ and ‘letting go of your emotions.’ Rex didn’t know what to think. How many times had he seen Skywalker follow his gut and his emotions and come out on top? Ahsoka was right. Rex was sure that if she were injured, Skywalker would never leave her side until she was healed and would do everything in his _considerable_ power to make sure that she lived to see another day.

This whole Jedi Code thing really baffled Rex sometimes. On the one hand, this was how the Jedi Order had been operating for a thousand years and things seemed to be working out okay so far. On the other, it didn’t seem right to indoctrinate kids and force them to go against their natural desire to feel emotions and . . . and . . . and nothing. Rex probably just had no idea what he was talking about. He was just a clone. These were ideas above his station.

“General Secura, look.” Rex turned to see Bly approach the two Jedi, something wooden clutched in his hands. He handed it to the General and Rex peered over her shoulder. Carved into the wood was an image of what appeared to be a large tree. “We’re not the only ones here on this planet. There has to be some kind of . . . _something_ here.”

Somewhere off in the distance, a creature let out a loud, predatory roar. Rex turned toward the sound and flicked on his helmet’s spot lamps.

“I sure hope that’s not he ‘something,’” muttered Flesh, who had taken position beside him.

“You and me both, kid.” Rex scanned the grass around them, his deece raised to stomach-height, but saw nothing.

“If you don’t mind me asking, General Secura,” Bly said, “where exactly are we going?” Rex knew that Bly’s 327th Star Corps was a division of troops that often got sent to the most inhospitable fronts of the war. As a result, he undoubtedly preferred to have good intel, a solid plan, and no questions. Leaving things to chance, faith, and the Force was clearly not his forte. It wasn’t really Rex’s either, but with Skywalker as his general, he was having to adapt.

“To go find the people who live on this planet.” _A clear path if ever there was one._

“Where are we going to find them? We have no idea where they are.”

“It seems to me,” Ahsoka said, taking the carving from General Secura and giving it a once-over, “that the people we’re looking for live near giant trees.”

“Very perceptive, Padawan,” General Secura nodded as Ahsoka placed the carving in the backpack she had acquired and turned back to her Master’s impromptu shelter, kneeling before him. Rex took position behind her, helmet under his arm. “Be strong, Master. Just a little bit longer. Rex will watch over you.”

He will?

_Yeah. I will._

Because he needed to. Because she trusted him to. Because his General needed him.

_What are you fighting for this time, Captain?_ A question he had been asking himself a lot lately. He found that, just like Cody had said, having a goal always seemed to help center him. Keep him going. He hadn’t found anything permanent yet, but he hoped that he’d get there one day.

_For the life of my General. And for Ahsoka’s peace of mind._

“It is time to go,” General Secura said.

“Don’t worry, kid,” Rex assured her. “I’ll . . . take good care of him.”

Ahsoka gave a small nod and stood. General Secura paused beside him. “Captain Rex,” she said, “keep your locator on. We should be back by daybreak with whoever or whatever lives on this planet.”

“Got it, General Secura.” He dropped his voice. “Hey, kid . . .”

Ahsoka looked up at him, her eyes full of fear and uncertainty.

“Good luck.”

She barely had time to give him a small smile and a nod.

“Come on, guys,” General Secura said, approaching with Bly, Lucky, Flesh, and Cameron in tow, “let’s move out.”

And they were off, running out into the grasslands as the sun continued setting. Rex watched them until they faded over the horizon. They always seemed to be leaving each other, Rex and Ahsoka. She’d left him at Teth and he’d left her at Skytop Station. As luck – _or maybe something else_ – would have it, they always found each other again. He wondered if a day would come when one of them would leave and never come back.

_Stop being so pessimistic._

Rex slid his helmet onto his head and turned back to guard his General.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a fairly long chapter by my standards and it's also the start to what I think is a pretty cool arc in terms of this story. Some nice character moments coming up.
> 
> Also, yes: According to the episode subtitles, his name actually is Flesh, not Flash. It was a surprise to me as well. The writers really were that mean.


	18. Breathless

**Maridun**

Rex was on his fifth perimeter sweep when movement caught his eye. The sun was just about set, and the only light apart from the spot lamps on Rex’s helmet was coming from the emergency lantern he’d placed in General Skywalker’s makeshift hut. As it turned out, the movement was coming from the General himself.

The man had stumbled out of his hut and was trying to crawl away, though he only succeeded in dropping to his knees just outside the entrance.

_What the hell is he doing? He needs rest._

Rex darted over to him, kneeling beside the Jedi and placing a hand on his shoulder.

“General?” he urged. “Are you alright?”

Weakly, Skywalker raised his head and stared up at him. “Be . . . Behind you.” And he dropped.

The hair on the back of Rex’s neck stood straight up.

_Danger. Something is coming._ _A presence. Feral._

He whipped around. A huge, four-legged creature was emerging from the grass around them at top speed, bolting directly toward Rex and the General. “What the –” He went for his DC-15, but it was already too late.

The beast’s mouth – a sharp, beak-like thing – was open and it snapped at him. Rex instinctively raised his left arm up to protect his face. Apparently, this was a bad idea. The beast grabbed his forearm plate and lifted him high up into the air, whirling him about with dizzying speed before slamming him into the ground on the opposite side of itself. Rex let out a strangled gasp as flesh, bone, and plastoid met hard dirt.

_Hurry! It’ll kill you._

Rex scrambled backwards, his deece somewhere far out of reach, as the creature bore down on him once more. Ignoring the pain in his arm, Rex braced his feet against the beast’s chest as it snapped its beak at him once more, all its muscles straining to break free of his hold on it. Rex grabbed the thing’s head with one hand, fighting to keep it back. With his other, he reached for one of his sidearms, sliding it out of its holster.

He brought the gun up, but suddenly one of the beast’s claws slammed on top of his hand, pinning both it and the DC-17 to the ground. Useless.

The creature growled and hissed, snapping its beak just above Rex’s hand. Any second now, it was going to overpower him. Skywalker couldn’t help him. No one was coming.

Rex’s hand tensed and the blaster went off, a bolt passed right through the creature’s hand.

It roared angrily and reared up onto its hind legs. Then, barely sparing Rex another glance, it bounded off back into the grass. Rex, seeing his opportunity, rolled onto his side and fired after the creature. His aim was shaking, though, and so he missed every shot.

_Damn it._

Rex let out a long, shaking breath and dropped to the ground, closing his eyes.

_Some bodyguard you are._

Rex slowly picked himself up off the ground, sliding his pistol back into its holster.

“Seems like my sixth sense needs some work,” he muttered, staring out into the grasslands.

_ _ _

Bly stood just behind General Secura and Commander Tano as the two Jedi led them through the grass. Everything looked the same to him. If his helmet didn’t come with a built-in compass, he would’ve been sure they had been walking in circles for hours.

“I can still sense your worry for Anakin,” General Secura told the young Padawan, “your attachment to him.”

She looked up. “It’s just . . . I get so confused sometimes,” she admitted. “It’s forbidden for Jedi to form attachments, yet we are supposed to be compassionate.”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Ahsoka,” General Secura said, gently. “I went through the same process when I was your age with my own Master.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” remarked Flesh over the clones’ private comm channel, “she’s a fine one to talk about ‘attachment.’”

“If Inc’s word is anything to go by, she’s been ‘attached’ to General Fisto a couple of times,” Lucky piped up.

The clone rumor mill was the best in the galaxy – debatably second only to the Bothan spy network. This wasn’t the first time Bly’d heard that one. Lucky and Flesh heard it from Inc, who heard it from Barr, who heard it from Tyto, who probably heard it from Monnk that Generals Fisto and Secura were currently in a ‘secret’ relationship. They’d been caught by clones a couple of times if the personal accounts were to be believed. At this rate – with so many stories floating around from so many sources – it was getting harder and harder for Bly to believe that there wasn’t at least a _little_ truth to some of the stories. If not all of them.

And he wasn’t jealous.

Not at all.

“Don’t lose a thousand lives just to save one,” General Secura was telling Commander Tano.

“Maybe . . . But that doesn’t mean that I can’t try to save his life.”

She was a good kid, Bly decided.

“Ah, give her a break,” Cameron chided, still talking over the comms. “Jedi really aren’t that different from us – Force powers aside. They still have emotions, even if they try to hide them.”

“Well then I don’t think she should be telling the poor kid to do one thing while doing the opposite herself,” Flesh objected. “It’s hypocritical.”

"Hypocrisy is kinda the Jedi way," Cameron joked.

“Okay, trooper,” Bly interjected. “That’s enough.” He was content to let the men gossip among themselves as much as they wanted as long as it didn’t get in the way of their work. Borderline insubordination like that, however, was dangerous and he knew it. They didn’t tell the Jedi how to do their jobs and live their lives. It wasn’t their place.

“Yes, sir.”

Just as the sun had finished setting and night fell, the group reached a large, circular area near a few tall, broad trees with sparse leaves exclusively at their highest points. Bly had an encyclopedic knowledge of planets and their conditions, as well as how to counter or deal with most environments. Before the ship had crash landed, Bly managed to identify that they were in the Maridun System. Making this planet Maridun. Mostly temperate, largely rural, lots of flatland.

Having already flicked through the Republic’s database and searched for more information on the planet, he hadn’t encountered any sources on the HoloNet that would indicate any kind of civilized life out here. The two Jedi believed this intel to be incorrect. Bly ran his hand over the immense roots of one of the trees and looked around.

“I don’t see any signs of life,” he reported. He was worried that this was all a complete waste of time.

There was a creaking sound.

“Oh, shit!” Flesh spat.

“Watch out!” Bellowed General Secura. The next thing Bly knew, he was being pushed flat against the ground and the Jedi was _right on top of him_. A huge pod of some kind crashed into the earth exactly where he had been standing a moment ago.

“Take cover, _come on_!” Lucky urged darting underneath a particularly large root. Bly scrambled to his feet and followed, the Jedi and the other clones just beside him.

“No wonder it’s deserted,” Commander Tano exclaimed. “It’s a death trap! You’d have to be crazy to wanna dodge those on a daily basis.”

General Secura was already scanning the area. Her eyes alighted on something. “It looks like someone or something intelligent enough to figure out a use for the pods has dragged them away.” She pointed and Bly saw that, indeed, there were large skid-marks in the dirt, indicating that pods had been dragged away from the trees. Recently. “All we have to do is follow the trail. Let’s go.”

She took off at a run, following the tracks further into the grasslands.

Bly and the others followed without question.

They had just come to another clear area when the Jedi pulled up short. Somewhere nearby, the same screeching sound they’d heard back at their crash-site emanated from the grass. Bly pulled up his DC-15 and scanned the area. They had no idea what creatures lived here. It could be prey. It could be a predator. Hell, that could be the spoken language of whatever ‘intelligent’ creatures lived here.

_Thump-thump_.

“Watch your left!” Flesh warned. Both Jedi ignited their lightsabers.

Three huge creatures burst through the grass. Bly barely got a good look at them before one slammed into Cameron and thrust its head upward, knocking him high into the air. Lucky sat down hard. The beasts had four-legged, mammalian bodies covered in both fur and feathers. Their heads were bird-like, with large, sharp beaks protruding from their faces. They had no wings.

 _Strange combo_.

There was no time for anymore thinking, because a moment later, the second beast plowed past him and leaped at Flesh while simultaneously pushing both Jedi aside. Panicked screaming filled Bly’s commlink. Nobody had even fired a shot yet. Bly retrieved his DC-15 and sighted up. Three creatures – one for each of his men. He pulled the trigger, sending a blue blaster bolt through the eye of the creature hovering over Flesh’s fallen form.

Half a second later, several kilograms of man and plastoid collided with his face, as one of the two remaining creatures reared back and tossed Cameron at him. Momentarily stunned, he barely picked himself up in time to see the General and Commander chase off the two beasts. Cameron wasn’t moving. Bly reached down; shook him. No response.

He sighed. “Cameron’s dead,” he reported as Secura and Tano made their way back to him. He glanced at the others. Also unmoving. “So are Lucky and Flesh.”

General Secura crouched over Lucky’s body, her hand on his backplate. She closed her eyes. “We have to keep moving.”

_ _ _

Day had broken when Ahsoka, Master Secura, and Bly reached what appeared to be a very primitive village. The pods from the trees they had spotted earlier were spready throughout a large field, hollowed out and used as huts. From her vantage point on top of the hill, she could see small, furry creatures moving about.

“Pod central,” she said, putting on the first real smile she’d felt in hours. “We made it.”

Aayla smiled back and led the way down the hill, sliding down the steep, dirt path leading down to the village. Ahsoka followed, with Bly bringing up the rear. As they approached the creatures – Ahsoka had no idea what species they were – they cringed away upon noticing them, giving the Jedi and clone a very wide berth.

“Hello?” Ahsoka called, giving her best friendly wave. What was the problem? Had they never seen Jedi before? Did they know Basic? A semi-circle formed around them. After a moment, the crowd parted and one creature stepped forward, older looking than all the others, with a limp.

“What have you come here for?” asked the little creature with a strange brogue. He sounded strangely wary.

“We are peacekeepers,” Aayla announced, looking around. “We are Jedi from the Galactic Republic. Our ship crashed a few miles away and one of us is very badly injured. We need your help.”

“Violence breeds violence,” the little creature said, sternly. “Jedi are no peacekeepers.”

“We’re fighting for freedom,” Ahsoka maintained, stepping forward. The war wasn’t _their_ fault. They had no choice but to help.

“And freedom and peace require fear and death?” asked the villager. “We colonized this system to find solace from your wretched war. We came here to find peace. You must leave. You will only destroy what small amount of peace is left in the galaxy. You will only bring the destruction of us.”

Aayla stepped forward. “Regardless of the Clone Wars and our part in them, we still need your help.”

“I’m afraid I must do what’s best for my people. We cannot help you.” The creature turned his back on them and began to shuffle away, tail held high in the air behind him.

_No. No!_

“Please!” Ahsoka called. They can’t have come all this way for nothing! “Can you at least give us some medical supplies? My friend is _dying_.”

The creature stopped. One of the other beings from the crowd made a half step forward, as if unsure what to do. The creature – the village leader, Ahsoka decided – waved him forward and turned back to the Jedi, sighing. “I cannot ignore a plea for help,” said the village leader as the younger-looking creature drew even with him. “I will send my son, Wag Too, to help your friend. He is a healer. But only one Jedi may go with him. The other must stay as insurance. We wouldn’t want a surprise attack on our village, or the kidnapping of our only healer.”

Oh, Force. He was raving.

Jedi leading a surprise attack on a peaceful village? That was just . . . _absurd_.

“Bly and I will stay,” Master Secura offered. “Padawan, go and help your Master.”

“No,” interjected the village leader, pointing angrily at Bly, “the clone and his blaster cannot stay. He will go with the youngling.”

“I can handle it,” Ahsoka protested. “I don’t need help.”

“Ahsoka,” Aayla’s voice was sharp.

“Don’t worry.”

“Be mindful of your surroundings, Padawan,” Master Secura said. “Those creatures are still out there.”

“Got it.” Ahsoka turned and jogged back the way they had come. “We won’t be long.”

They couldn’t afford to be. Not if Anakin was to survive.

_ _ _

Rex hadn’t slept all night.

He’d patrolled the area several times, fiddled with his blaster, even refreshed himself on the reg manual. Periodically, he checked on the General’s condition to make sure he was still breathing. So far so good.

Still, those creatures could be back at any moment to try and finish the job they’d started earlier.

Kriff, he was tired.

It was morning now, the bright sun casting warm light over the crash site. The others were supposed to be back soon. Rex stood over General Skywalker’s shelter, still on the lookout for threats or returning friends.

Skywalker groaned.

Rex leaned down and turned to see the young man try and get to his feet.

“General,” Rex said, placing a hand on his shoulder, ready to push him back if need be, “you need to maintain your rest.”

“I – can’t rest,” he sputtered. “Rex – they’re coming. I can hear them.” He grabbed Rex’s arm and used it to haul himself shakily to his feet. Oh, stang. Rex turned, bringing his deece to bear. The hair on the back of his neck stood up once more. _Danger. Near._ Why hadn’t his helmet sensors alerted him to any danger? Maybe the beasts were just that good. “We must – _fight_.”

Two of the blasted things rushed out of the grass and just stood before them. One let out a piercing shriek that sounded exactly like the one he’d heard the afternoon prior. Except much, much louder. One of the things pawed the ground anxiously. They were going to charge. Fuck. Skywalker’s lightsaber hummed to life, but Rex knew the General was in no shape to fight. Once more, it’d all be up to him.

A split second later, both the creatures charged at once. Rex fired twice, hitting one of the beasts in the face. It fell to the ground like a sack of rocks, unmoving. The second, however, blew right in between Rex and Skywalker, sending them both flying and destroying the makeshift shelter he and Bly had put together. Rex hit the ground heavily, his blaster skidding away. Rex tried to get up, but something was wrong with his left arm.

_Stang, that hurt!_

Out of nowhere, Ahsoka appeared, followed by Bly and a furry little creature curled up in a ball and spinning after her. _What the hell?_ The little creature jumped forward, uncurling itself and wrapping a rope around the predator’s four legs. It kicked out, enraged, and knocked the little furball off his feet. Ahsoka was there in a heartbeat, her lightsaber ignited and ready to face down the beast.

“No, don’t!” cried the furry creature. He jumped back and began pulling at the rope, binding the predator’s legs together. It struggled against him. He wasn’t going to be able to hold it for long.

“Fine,” Ahsoka said, deactivating her ‘saber. A second later, she joined the little creature, pulling at the rope. Rex, seeing that they still could use a hand, scrambled to his feet and shuffled over – _leg hurts too, damn it_ – grabbing the rope with his good arm and pulling with all his might. With one mighty, collective effort, the predator slipped off balance. The little creature darted forward and wrapped the remainder of his rope around its legs, trapping it.

“Good work, little guy,” Ahsoka said. Rex grabbed at his bicep, holding it tightly. He must’ve landed on his shoulder or something. Ahsoka seemed to realize something. “Master!”

_Oh, shit, Skywalker!_

She and Rex sprinted over to the General, who was being helped onto his back by Bly. Cameron, Lucky, and Flesh were nowhere to be seen. Rex knew what that meant.

“Good to see you, Snips,” Skywalker choked out, giving a weak laugh. The little creature that had arrived with Ahsoka shuffled over.

“This is Wag Too,” Ahsoka said, indicating him. “He’s a healer. He can make you well again.”

“Don’t you worry,” said the furball in a strange accent. “I can fix ya right up.”

It was a long trek back to the village Wag Too had apparently come from. Ahsoka and Bly rigged a makeshift stretcher and carried Skywalker while Rex had no choice but to limp behind them. It was at least midday by the time they reached the village, where a whole host of furry creatures just like Wag Too were waiting for them. Along with General Secura.

The creatures took General Skywalker away, muttering something about “oil” and “pods.” Ahsoka ran over to the remaining Jedi General and bowed to her. Rex limped over, wondering what this was all about.

“You were right all along, Master Secura,” Ahsoka said.

“About what?”

“If I had stayed with Anakin, we probably wouldn’t have found this village in time to save him.” She sighed. “At least this whole ordeal is over with, now.”

“We still have to find a way off this planet,” Rex pointed out. He hated to be the bearer of bad news, but it was just the way things were. Injuries made him touchy. “I don’t think the locals are big on space travel.”

“If we found out they were hiding a starship somewhere, that’d be nice,” Bly said, removing his helmet and placing it under one arm. “Even then, though, I don’t think they’d lend it to us. They aren’t big on Jedi. Or clones.”

Ahsoka took a breath, looking up at the sky. “Well, I’m sure Admiral Yularen and the Republic Fleet are looking for us. It shouldn’t take them too long to get here.”

“Here’s hoping, kid,” Rex said, staring down at her. “Here’s hoping.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor clones never really had a chance... I had to go frame-by-frame because the fight scenes happen so quickly so I could figure out what was going on.
> 
> Remixed the ending a bit 'cause I thought it was strange that Rex and Bly kinda just disappear in the last scene.


	19. No Escape

**Maridun**

Rex’s eyes slowly fluttered open as he awoke. The ground beneath him was soft. He was wearing his armor. Why wasn’t he in the barracks wearing only his blacks? Was that General Skywalker over there with his head and chest covered in bandages? And why was Ahsoka curled up next to him? His brothers weren’t anywhere to be found. Wait . . . except for Bly . . . Bly? Oh, there was General Secura. That explained it. Wait, no it didn’t.

Then it came back to him.

The battle, General Skywalker getting injured, the botched hyperspace jump, the crash, the predators, the village of little furry creatures – _Lurmen_ , they were called. Right. _That_ explained it. Rex slowly sat up, careful not to wake anyone. If there was one thing he’d learned the hard way in the barracks, it was that no one liked getting woken up early when there was no scheduled ‘wakeup time.’ Troopers loved their beauty sleep when they could get it. What time was it?

Rex stepped over Ahsoka, who had fallen asleep nearly on top of him – _Had she? Or had she just rolled over in the night?_ – and then Skywalker before ducking down and exiting the pod-hut. Outside, the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, sending a dazzling array of oranges, purples, and pinks across the planet’s sky. Rex checked his wrist chronometer. Six in the morning. Damn, he’d actually slept in for a change.

_Might as well actually_ enjoy _the sunrise for once._

Rex crouched in front of the hut once more and reached inside, fumbling around for a moment or two before grabbing his helmet and blaster carbine. There was no way he was going to leave either of those unattended. These villagers might be pacifists, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, leaving a weapon unattended in a non-GAR area was strictly against regulations.

Before walking off, he gave the group asleep in the hut one last glance. They were quite a mixed bunch, there was no doubt about that. Bly moved every few seconds, as though he couldn’t get comfortable. Skywalker’s brow was furrowed and his head jerked every few seconds, as though he were fighting battles even in his dreams. Ahsoka’s mouth was slightly open, giving Rex a nice view of her Togrutan fangs. _Yep, still pointy._ One of her headtails drooped at an odd angle over her face, hiding her nose behind it. As she slept, Ahsoka made a strange, contented noise – _she’s actually purring. I didn't know she did that_. Rex smiled. General Secura was the only sleeper who looked truly serene. She lay flat on her back, totally stretched out, her hands clasped over her stomach. If Rex didn’t see the rise and fall of her chest – _eyes up, Captain_ – he would’ve though she was dead.

His smile suddenly faded. He didn’t like to think about that.

Straightening, Rex turned, helmet tucked under one arm, and walked through the village. His sights were set on the large hill overlooking the town. It was the one he, Ahsoka, Bly, and Wag Too had walked down the previous day, carrying General Skywalker on a makeshift stretcher. It provided a nice overview of the town and, conveniently, was a good spot to watch the sunrise.

Rex’s leg seemed to have recovered nicely overnight; he could walk again without any pain at all. He poked at his left arm, sliding his fingers underneath his bicep plate to squeeze the muscle underneath, and grimaced. Still painful. He’d have to address that after he sat down again. As he trekked through the main area of the village, Lurmen crept out of their own huts; the day must just be starting for them as well. Most wouldn’t meet his eye, though a few gave him friendly waves. Rex gave them small, polite smiles, not really sure if he should say anything.

Moments later, he passed the final pods and made the short, steep climb up to the top of the nearby hill. Finally at the top, Rex set his helmet and blaster down before taking a seat. The sun was much more visible now, painting the sky a warm, welcoming orange. _This is nice_. Rex smiled, leaning against a raised section of the earth behind him and looking up. It was so different from Kamino, which was often dark, usually rainy, and always wet. His life in the military was so chaotic and hectic that sometimes it was nice to appreciate little moments like this in life. He knew he had far few opportunities to do so than most men – _boys_ – his age otherwise would. Both due to his accelerated aging and the very-likely possibility that he was going to die in this war.

Speaking of military matters . . .

Rex carefully removed his left bicep plate, wincing as pain shot through his upper arm. Fracture? Bruise? Maybe both. In any case, the best he could do at the moment was to wrap up his arm; put some pressure on it. He set the plastoid plate on the ground and reached into his belt, removing a small roll of bandages. They were semi-adhesive and had a small amount of bacta infused into them, further accelerating the healing process of any wounds they came into contact with. They’d do just fine.

He began wrapping the bandages around his upper arm, starting a few inches above his elbow and extending upwards to just below his armpit before tearing away the long strip he’d used and finishing the job. _There, that should do just fine._ He placed the remainder of the roll of bandages back onto his belt and flexed his arm tentatively. No pain. Still, he probably shouldn’t overextend himself. That shouldn’t be too hard; it wasn’t like there was anything around at the moment that would give them any trouble.

That’s when he heard the low hum of a spacecraft.

Had the Republic found them? That’d be convenient. Rex grabbed his electrobinnoculars and pressed them to his eyes, staring up into the morning sky. No. It was not the Republic. A large Separatist landing craft was descending through the cloud layer. Headed right for their location. Rex lowered the electrobinnoculars.

He raised his wrist commlink to his mouth.

“Commander Bly,” he said, “we’ve got company.”

Bly answered right away; he must’ve already been awake. “Friendlies?” His tone suggested that he already knew the answer.

“Negative, sir. A droid ship. Comin’ straight our way.”

“Acknowledged,” Bly said. “Get back here.”

The link cut out. Rex stowed his bicep plate on his belt and slid his helmet onto his head, then he picked up his blaster and stood. Breaktime was over.

_ _ _

Ahsoka and Wag Too both knelt over her Master. Well, Wag Too was small enough that he really didn’t need to kneel. He needed to wake up; there was medicine he was supposed to be taking. Ahsoka reached out and shook his shoulder. Figures he’d sleep in. Everyone else was already up. Then again, he _was_ still recovering from nearly being blown up, so maybe she should cut him some slack. He _still_ needed to get up, though.

“Skyguy . . . _Skyguy_ . . .” she said, shaking him. Nothing. “ _C’mon_. You’ve gotta get up!”

Anakin’s eyes shot open. “Snips?” he said. “Wha – _ow!_ ”

“Easy,” she said, setting one hand on his shoulder. “Let’s take this slow, okay?”

“General?” Ahsoka glanced up to see Commander Bly standing in the doorway. His helmet was on. That was strange; they weren’t in a combat scenario.

Anakin coughed, but still struggled to lean forward. “Yes, Commander?”

“We’ve got a Separatist ship incoming.”

“This is neutral space,” Wag Too said, his eyes going wide. He looked back and forth between Bly and Anakin.

“It won’t be neutral for long,” her Master said, grimly, “not if the Separatists have their way.” He struggled to rise, but to no avail. “Help me up.” Master Secura knelt down by Anakin, ready to help if need be. Ahsoka reached out, but he continued to try and stand on his own. He was apparently rewarded for his stubbornness by a stab of pain, as he let out another low grunt.

“Don’t struggle!” Wag Too chided. “I’m sorry, but you’re still too injured to move.”

“What menace have you brought to our village now, Jedi?” came an angry voice from the entrance to the hut.

Ahsoka looked up to see Tee Watt Kaa, the village’s leader, standing in the doorway.

“Father, you can’t blame them,” Wag Too spoke up. Ahsoka was glad _someone_ was defending them. Tee Watt Kaa had been against helping them this whole time.

“He’s right,” Ahsoka said, standing. “The Separatists don’t even know we’re here.”

“And they can’t know,” said Aayla, “we’ve got to hide.”

“Your presence here endangers us,” Tee Watt Kaa asserted. “You must leave before your enemies find you.”

What? That was crazy. There was no way the furry little Lurmen could stop the droids all by themselves. Sure, Wag Too had demonstrated some fighting skills taking down that beast yesterday, but there was a big difference between taking down one beast and standing against an army of battle droids.

Ahsoka stepped forward. “But you’ll need our help! You can’t fight them alone.”

“We will not fight them at all,” the village leader said. “We would rather die than to kill others.”

_But they’re just droids . . ._

“You’re going to surrender?” This was unbelievable. “But, _how_ can you –?”

“Ahsoka,” came her Master’s voice from behind her, “stop.” She turned around. Wag Too had finally helped Anakin into a sitting position. “If the Lurmen want to remain neutral, we won’t force them into war.”

So that was it.

“See to it that they leave,” Tee Watt Kaa told his son, turning and walking away. “I must see what our new visitors want.” And he was gone. Ahsoka watched him go and folded her arms. She had a bad feeling about this. Almost as soon as the Lurman disappeared, Captain Rex materialized in front of the hut. His helmet jerked around at all their faces, which must have looked terribly grave.

“Did I . . . miss something?”

Ahsoka just frowned. If _she_ explained what their situation was, she’d probably say something ‘inappropriate’ and end up getting reprimanded. Again.

“We must leave the village at once,” Master Secura explained. “The Separatists cannot be allowed to discover us, and Tee Watt Kaa has decided that our presence is too much of a danger to his people. We must go.”

If Rex had similar feelings as Ahsoka, he didn’t mention them. Instead, he promptly crossed to where Bly was helping Anakin to his feet and joined him in assisting the Jedi. Ahsoka felt something poke her leg and she looked down. Wag Too was holding a handful of small, purple fruit in his long arms. She’d seen them before out in the village and assumed they must be something native to the planet. Grateful for some assistance, Ahsoka grabbed her backpack from where it lay on the ground and accepted the fruit from the little Lurman before straightening and pushing her arms through the straps.

“Take it easy, sir,” Rex warned her Master. “We’ll assist you.” The two clones had Anakin supported between them, one of his arms around each of their necks.

Wag Too glanced outside of the tent, evidently making sure the coast was clear, before waving for them to follow him. He vanished, and they all filed out after him. First Master Secura, then Rex, Bly, and the wounded Anakin, and finally Ahsoka herself. The little group made for the edge of town, passing between several pod-huts, when blaster fire and screaming erupted from the other side of the village.

“Take cover!” Bly ordered as he and Rex dragged Anakin behind one of the huts. “We don’t wanna be spotted.” Ahsoka and Aayla followed the clones’ lead, flattening themselves against a pod just on the outskirts of the village, Wag Too mimicking them. Ahsoka couldn’t resist looking back. What she saw made her blood boil. Battle droids were ransacking the town. They kicked over crates full of fruit, shot their blasters up into the sky, and tore down awnings hanging over the entrances of huts. All for no reason at all.

“Why are they tearing apart our homes?” Wag Too murmured, sounding terrified. “We’ve done nothing to them!”

Ahsoka’s hand curled into a fist. She wanted nothing more than to ignite her lightsaber, run out there, and start tearing apart every droid in sight. “Violence,” she spat, “that’s what those droids are programmed for.” She turned back to the others. “Can’t we do anything?” She was sick of staying back, of not helping.

“No,” Master Secura maintained. “And if we are discovered, all of the Lurmen will be slaughtered.

“We’ll be okay if we make it to the tall grasses,” Anakin said. Not far now – just a few more meters. The others set off, moving as quickly as they could given Anakin’s injury. Ahsoka glanced back at Wag Too and gave him a small nod. It was all she could do. And she _hated_ it.

He nodded back.

Then she turned her back on him and walked off into the sea of grass.

_ _ _

After an hour or so, they had to stop to rest. No one had eaten breakfast yet, and anyway, General Skywalker needed a break. He, Bly, and Ahsoka – who was munching on a dry ration bar – sat on the ground while Rex and General Secura stood. The sun had risen fully now, bathing them all in bright, comfortably warm light. The more Rex thought about their situation, the more frustrated he got.

“You know,” he said, “I can’t figure those villagers not wanting to fight.” It truly was baffling to him. How could anyone just lay down and willingly let someone else just walk all over them. He let out a short laugh, devoid of any humor. “No pride, I guess.”

“I call it no courage.” Ahsoka was scowling, looking down at the ground. Rex glanced at her.

A woman after his own heart.

“Sometimes,” General Secura said in that ‘I-am-imparting-great-Jedi-wisdom’ voice, “it takes courage to stick to one’s beliefs, young Padawan. As any Jedi well knows.” Ahsoka apparently didn’t have a retort for that, so she just looked sheepish and stuffed more of her ration bar into her mouth.

Rex had a few ideas, but he couldn’t exactly bring them up. Clones didn’t debate Jedi over philosophy. That just wasn’t how it worked. Having courage and sticking to your beliefs was all well and good. Rex respected that. But he figured there was a difference between that and being so stubborn that you got yourself killed because you refused to adapt. That sounded more like arrogance to him. Or stupidity.

Then again, Jesse told him he was being too stubborn at least twice a week, so what did he know?

“We need to find a ship,” Skywalker interjected, drawing everyone back to the _more important_ problem at hand. _Oh. He’s got that look in his eye._ “And I think the only one around here belongs to the Separatists. We know they have a landing ship. They might have a shuttle.”

“Sir,” Rex said around a grin, “you talkin’ about stealing from one of the clankers? Count me in.”

“We need to find them first,” General Secura reminded them.

Ahsoka jumped up, ration bar still in one hand, and pointed, eyes wide. “I think we just did.”

Rex whipped around. Sure enough, a black Separatist recon droid was peering at them through the tall grass. Upon realizing it had been spotted, it shot up, emitting a stream of weird, cryptic noises. Its four legs jostled around a bit before it turned tail and zoomed off.

“Blast it!” Skywalker ordered.

Rex didn’t need telling twice. Neither did Bly. The two clones stood their ground and sighted up, each letting a stream of bolts fly. The blasted droid, weaved in and out, up and down, evading every shot they sent after it. It was getting away.

“Jam its signal!” General Secura ordered.

Rex glanced over but Bly was already on it.

“After it!” Ahsoka called, darting between Rex and Bly and starting off down the path the recon droid had taken. Rex stopped firing and instantly sprinted off after her, Bly right beside him. Secura joined them after a moment – Skywalker had to assure her that he’d be fine – and they were off at a breakneck pace.

Rex was _really_ glad his leg was better.

Ahsoka suddenly pulled up short, glancing around a small clearing. “Which way did it go?” Bly asked. Rex couldn’t hear the droid’s distinct hum anymore.

“This way. Hurry!”

And she was off again. They ran this way and that through the grass, stopping occasionally for a moment and then taking off once more when Ahsoka led them off or they heard a split second of the droid’s code or hovering sound. They _had_ to catch it. If it managed to report their position to the Separatists, they’d be trapped in the middle of a huge, open grassland with no knowledge of the area and nowhere to fall back to. Suddenly, the droid darted out in front of them, putting on a burst of speed and surging ahead. It was weaving down a winding path toward one of the huge trees that dotted the planet’s landscape.

“We can’t catch it if it gets out in the open,” Rex warned. If they missed it and the thing managed to escape into a field, it would be too quick for them and would dart out of range before any of them could do a thing about it. Ahsoka nodded, igniting her lightsaber and putting on a burst of Force-speed.

But there was no need.

General Secura appeared out of nowhere in front of them, lightsaber drawn. With one vertical slash, she cut the recon droid in half as it flew unsuspectingly toward her. Rex had no idea how she knew where to be. Or how she’d gotten in front of them. Rex, Ahsoka, and Bly slowed their pace to a walk. The two Jedi deactivated their weapons. Ahsoka surveyed the still-smoking wreck of the droid.

“I wonder where it was headed,” she pondered aloud.

“Maybe we can see from up there.” The older Jedi pointed upwards to the huge tree that loomed over them all, easily a kilometer tall.

For the Jedi, it was a simple matter of using the Force to jump from branch to branch. Rex and Bly, however, the whole ordeal involved repel cables and a lot of faith in branches to hold their weight. It wasn’t particularly difficult, but it was a little dangerous. After a few minutes, the four of them stood on a particularly thick branch that split of directly from the tree’s massive trunk.

Bly had already flicked down his helmet-mounted macrobinnoculars and was surveying the huge field before them. Rex brought out his electrobinnoculars again and held them up to his visor. “Ah, shit . . .”

“What is it Rexter?”

Rex put down the binoculars and glanced back at her. “I thought you had good long-range vision.”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “Rex, I have great long-range vision. But not _that_ great. Whatever’s out there just looks like a beg metal square to me.”

Fair enough.

Even though he knew she wasn’t going to like what she saw, Rex handed her the electrobinnoculars and flipped down his rangefinder. It wasn’t quite as good, but still enhanced his image quality by quite a bit. Behind him, he heard someone scaling the tree’s trunk. It could only be General Skywalker.

“I hope you’re feeling better, Master,” Ahsoka said, “’cause look what we’ve found.” She turned and handed him the electrobinnoculars.

“I’m gettin’ better all the time, Snips,” Skywalker said confidently, accepting the scopes from her and holding them up to his eyes. His cocky grin faltered. “But I’m not sure I’m ready for that . . .”

They were staring at what must be the droids’ first outpost around here. It was a large, square compound surrounded by a high wall. The landing craft sat in the middle of the base, unmoving. Battle droids and dwarf spider droids manned the wall, keeping watch. There had to be at least a battalion in there. If not more. In one corner of the compound, tucked away in the shadow of the much larger landing craft, was a small Separatist shuttle.

Silver-linings. Or something.

General Skywalker tore his gaze away from the electrobinnoculars. “That shuttle’s our ticket off this rock.”

“It’s not gonna be easy, sir,” Bly said, stepping forward. “There don’t seem to be any flaws in their security line.”

Even as Rex watched, three armored assault tanks rolled out of the landing craft’s main bay and out of the compound. _Great. Artillery. That’s just what we need._ Rex widened his field-of-view. Something strange was going on. The tanks lined up just outside of the base, along with a few platoons of battle droids. One of the tanks had some sort of modified turret. It was much larger than those of the other two, standard-looking ones and Rex spotted a couple droids carrying huge shells around.

“Apparently the Separatists have a new toy,” Skywalker commented, peering through the electrobinnoculars once more. “See if you can get a closer look.”

“Yes, sir,” Bly said at once.

“I’ll go with you, Commander,” Rex offered. Truthfully, he didn’t really want to, but he didn’t want Bly to go out there alone, either. _Everyone needs someone watching their six._

So, Rex clambered back down the trunk of the tree just behind the Commander, his armor clacking against the bark, kama swinging as air pooled underneath it. At long last, his feet hit solid ground again and he and Bly entered the field. They didn’t speak; didn’t need to. Years of training told them to keep their bodies as low to the ground as possible, to hide themselves behind the rows of grass that would conceal their approach.

“Hold up,” Bly raised one fist into the air, bringing them to a halt. “There’s two droids ahead.”

“Just two?” That wasn’t even a patrol. What were two droids doing just standing out in the middle of the field? “Should we take them?”

“Negative,” Bly said. “We haven’t even pulled a reccy on the base yet. They’ll notice if the droids don’t report it. We wait. See if they pass.”

“Copy.”

So they sat there, crouched in the grass. Waiting. The droids didn’t move. Was something wrong with their programming? Rex glanced behind them, up towards the tree where he knew Skywalker, Secura, and Ahsoka were watching them. He wondered if their bird’s-eye view gave them a clearer picture of whatever was going on. Or if they sensed something in the Force.

The sound of a canon firing from the direction of the base caught Rex’s attention. He turned around only to see a mortar shell explode from the strange-looking tank’s main battery and arc high into the sky. A trail of smoke from behind it, plotting its course.

“Shit, _move!_ ” Bly ordered, but Rex was already on his feet sprinting for everything he was worth back towards the tree and the Jedi.

He knew from the missile’s course that it wasn’t going to hit near them, but there was just no telling what kind of explosion was going to occur when that thing hit the ground. Only _di’kuts_ stuck around when live ordinance was being targeted at their position. The droids, only a few meters away at that point – hadn’t even noticed them. Sometimes he was thankful that his battlefield opponents were as dim as they were.

Rex was sprinting across open ground now, not even bothering to try and cover himself beneath the grass. Bly was matching him step-for-step. From behind, he heard a dull thump of the shell hitting the ground. A split-second later, there was an explosion he could feel in his bones. The shockwave only pushed him to run harder, despite the forty kilograms of armor he was wearing. With the adrenaline pumping through his veins right then, his gear might as well have been weightless.

They were almost at the tree.

Rex saw the three Jedi jump down to one of the lower branches of the tree, waving frantically at them. Stupidly, Rex took a second to swivel his helmet’s 360-degree camera behind them and immediately wished he hadn’t. A wall of fire and energy was rapidly closing the gap between itself and the two clones. They were never going to make it on foot.

“Use your repel cable!” Rex shouted, reaching into his belt and pulling out the grappling hook and repel line, stuff the hook into the barrel of his DC-15 and switching the settings without missing a stride. Bly mimicked him, operating mostly on reflexes now.

Rex raised his rifle, took a second to aim, and pulled the trigger. A moment later, there was a satisfying ‘clunk’ as the hook bit deep into the tree bark and the line pulled taut, instantly yanking Rex off the ground. Bly shouted. Still rising through the air, Rex turned to see his fellow clone tumble to the ground, his foot caught on something. His rifle spun to the ground. Behind him, the wall of flames drew closer and closer. He would never make it.

“Bly!” Rex reached out for him, but he knew there was nothing he could do. He was too far away. But the next second, General Secura swung past him, clutching onto a long vine and reaching for the clone commander. He reached out and caught her extended hand. He’d be fine. The Jedi had him.

Rex stopped moving and suddenly felt tree bark beneath his gloves. Then Ahsoka was there, reaching down to help him up. He grasped her hand and let her pull him upward, probably drawing on the Force to counteract his weight. He scrambled to his feet as General Secura and Bly landed just beside him. Then, he turned back to the field to inspect the damage the mortar had caused.

“That’s some toy,” Ahsoka breathed. “It took out _every living thing_.”

She was right.

What once was an immense field of grass, wildlife, and earth had been reduced to nothing more than a plane of ash and fire. It was a huge, black scar upon the planet’s surface.

“Look! Out there.” Bly was pointing, his helmet’s macrobinnoculars flipped down. Rex followed his gaze.

Standing in the middle of the field, inspecting themselves, were the two droids he and Bly had almost run into. How were they still standing? They had been directly in the path of the explosion. Then it clicked.

“That weapon,” he said slowly. “It must only affect living tissue.”

Meaning the droids weren’t harmed at all.

Stang.

“Where are they off to now?” General Secura said. Rex focused his attention on the base once more. The droids seemed to be reorganizing, loading onto troop transports, collecting more mortar shells, and filing into several tanks.

“They must be going back to the Lurmen village,” Skywalker said, handing her the electrobinnoculars. “There’s nothing else around here.”

“Those villagers won’t stand a chance.”

Skywalker was in action-mode. “First,” he said, turning to the group at large, “we’ll take out the droids communication station. Then, after we get a shuttle, we’ll go back and help the Lurmen.”

“But Tee Watt Kaa said he doesn’t need our help,” Ahsoka said, crossing her arms.

“There’s a difference between pulling innocents into a war and leaving them to extinction.”

_ _ _

Night had fallen.

Ahsoka gripped her lightsaber tightly as she and Master Secura emerged from the tall grass surrounding the droid’s outpost. Dodging around a pair of spotlights that swept the perimeter, the two Jedi darted forward and pressed themselves against the outer wall of the compound. She peered around the corner. A large patrol of droids stood outside the base’s main entrance, looking about, blasters held at the ready. _Come on, Skyguy._

“Hey, what was that?” Suddenly, one of the droids broke off from the others, stooping to investigate something on the ground. The other droids all turned to watch it, and while their backs were turned, Ahsoka and Aayla rushed around the corner and jumped, scaling the wall by jumping between a pair pillars that extended just beyond the wall.

One-two-three. They were on the top.

Unable to resist, Ahsoka glanced back to see what became of the patrol. She barely glimpsed it; it was that quick. Anakin’s blue lightsaber glowed as he slashed one droid, cutting it in half at the waist. Rex and Bly were already upon the remaining two, ripping their heads off with quick, strong tugs.

“Get to the door,” Master Secura whispered to her. “I’ll handle the droids.”

Ahsoka nodded. That was the plan.

She turned and dropped off the top of the wall, landing behind a stack of crates just inside the compound while Aayla ran along the top, making short work of the guards stationed up there. Ahsoka peered out from her hiding spot. To her right was the outpost’s main entrance, barely lit by a few lights not too far away. To her left, a pair of battle droid guards was marching over, probably about to change shifts.

She’d have to be quick.

Ahsoka leaped over the crates she was hiding behind and ran towards the droids. She flicked the blade on. She spun. The droids fell. She deactivated the blade. Then she was at the control panel, glancing behind her to make sure no other droids were going to attack her as she pressed the button.

The slab of met slid downwards, admitting Anakin, Rex, and Bly into the compound.

It was all downhill for the droids from there. Master Secura cleared the entire upper wall. Ahsoka hid in the shadows, ambushing unsuspecting patrols. Rex got to rip more droids’ heads off – _something he probably enjoys intensely_ – with Bly’s backup. Anakin secured the command post and communications center. After the better part of an hour, the compound lay deserted. Aside from them and a hundred or so dead droids.

The group stopped next to the shuttle that was their primary goal.

“Shield generators, sir,” Rex said, indicating two boxy, gray objects lying by a few crates nearby.

“Let’s take ‘em with us,” Anakin said, nodding. Rex nodded and he and Bly dropped to their knees, pressing a few buttons on sides of the devices, causing them to hum and hover a few inches above the ground. As the two clones shepherded them up into the back of the shuttle. Ahsoka and the other Jedi followed them. She knew Anakin was still a little too out of it to, so she slipped past everyone and found herself in the cockpit. Master Secura slipped into the cockpit and settled into the copilot’s seat beside her.

They did it. Half the plan had been carried out. Now the hard part began. They had to get back to the Lurmen’s village and warn them. They had to get them to leave, get them to fight, defend them, do _something_. As Ahsoka piloted the shuttle up out of the base and over the grassland, she caught another glimpse of the flatland where the Separatist had tested their new weapon, almost killing Rex and Bly.

Scorched earth. That was all that was left. That was all that would remain of the Lurmen if they failed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Philosophy's kinda tough, huh.
> 
> And yeah I'm making up Togruta biology because - compared to Twi'leks - there's practically nothing out there for them.


	20. Cause and Effect

**Maridun**

By the time Ahsoka piloted their stolen shuttle back to the Lurmen village, the sun had begun to rise again. As she put the shuttle down directly in the village’s center, she began switching things off. It was time to see if they could convince the Lurmen to defend themselves.

“What if they say no?” she asked out loud, standing.

Anakin glanced back at her. “I . . . don’t know,” he admitted, rubbing at the bandage still wrapped around his forehead. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

_Another typical Skywalker plan, then_.

Anakin exited the shuttle, followed by Master Secura. Ahsoka jogged after them, passing Rex and Bly in the passenger bay, who were fiddling with the pair of shield generators they had stolen from the Separatist’s outpost. Ahsoka followed the two masters out of the shuttle. Outside, the Lurmen had formed a large circle around them. Ahead, she could see Tee Watt Kaa and Wag Too looking on. Of course, Tee Watt Kaa stepped forward, looking angry.

“Everyone, please,” Master Secura said, speaking to the village at large, “please listen. The Separatists will be here in moments.”

“What are you doing here?” demanded the village leader. “I told you not to return.” Wag Too put up a hand to attempt to calm his father, but Anakin spoke before he could.

“I’m afraid the Separatists don’t care whether you’re in the war or not,” he said. “We need to get you to safety before they arrive.”

“We will not abandon our homes,” Tee Watt Kaa maintained.

Ahsoka stepped forward. This was insane. How could they just roll over and allow themselves to be killed? “But they’ve got a new weapon.” She _had_ to impress upon them the seriousness of the situation. “It’ll burn this place to a crisp.” She raised her voice, calling out to the entire village. “Is this what all of you really want?”

“If it is our destiny to be destroyed in your war, so be it.” And he turned and walked off, leaving a stunned Wag Too behind.

Ahsoka’s jaw dropped.

_ _ _

“Thank you, General. I’m sure they would have appreciated this,” Bly said.

He and General Secura stood just outside the crashed frigate, hovering over the three graves they had only just finished filling. Inside lay Lucky, Cameron, and Flesh. On their way back to the crash site to search for weapons, the pair had come across their bodies; right where they had been killed. It had been the General’s idea to carry them back and bury them. As Bly set each trooper’s helmet atop the mounds of disturbed dirt, Secura collected the shovels they’d found inside the crashed frigate and set them among the wreckage.

“It was the right thing to do,” said the General.

Bly turned to her, somewhat glad his features were hidden by his own helmet. “Maybe. But we’re on a tight schedule. This might have cost us valuable time we needed to prepare a defense of the village.”

“Bly.” Her hand was on his shoulder. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he thought he felt warmth even through his armor. “There is always time to care for those under our command. Even those who have already gone.”

“Most clones don’t get a proper burial.”

“And that,” said the General, releasing him and turning back towards the wreckage of the ship, “is one of the great tragedies of this war. I believe it is common for you clones to say that it is your flexibility and ingenuity that makes you superior to battle droids. I disagree.”

“Ma’am?”

“It is your _humanity_ that makes you superior, Commander,” General Secura said. “I hope you do not forget that. It will be a sorry day for the Republic indeed when cold, calculated planning is put before compassion and caring.”

That was the moment when Bly decided that – despite not totally understanding her philosophies – General Secura was the most beautiful creature in the galaxy.

“I, er . . . Thank you, General,” he mumbled.

“Come,” said Secura. “We have weapons to find for you and the Captain, no?”

“No – er – yes.”

Bly kicked himself, then turned away from the graves and followed the General back into the wreckage of the frigate, on the hunt for rifles.

_ _ _

“I can’t believe this. I _can’t believe this_.”

Ahsoka had been on a tirade for the last few minutes. Poor kid really was pent up with frustration. After they’d returned to the village and the Lurmen had flatly refused to move or even help them do anything to defend them, Skywalker and Secura had hastily constructed a plan of defense.

Secura and Bly had returned to their crashed ship in order to grab a few better weapons for the clones to use, Skywalker was staying in the village – supposedly he was resting, conserving his strength for the coming battle, but Rex doubted it – and Rex and Ahsoka were gathering pods that had fallen from the trees in the grasslands and dragging them back to the village in order to put together a barrier against the Separatists.

As it turned out, Rex was doing most of the work while Ahsoka paced around him, talking. To him or to herself, he wasn’t quite sure.

“They’re not helping. _Why_ aren’t they helping?” she continued. “I can _feel_ how scared they are. That they don’t want to die or just roll over. But they won’t lift a finger if their leader doesn’t say so.”

Rex pushed against the pod, rolling it along the depression in the dirt where many pods before it had been dragged off by the villagers, making very little headway. “Like I said before,” he grunted, “lack of pride. Maybe you were right, too – no courage.”

“No . . .” Ahsoka said, her brow furrowed and looking down. “I . . . I think Master Secura was right about that. It _does_ take courage to stick to your beliefs.”

“Doesn’t it also take courage to go against the grain when you know something is wrong?” Rex asked.

Ahsoka’s frown deepened. Rex stopped pushing. He leaned against the heavy pod and just stared at her. She’d gotten taller over the past few months. She reached the top of Rex’s shoulder, now. Her stormy expression somehow made her look older, too. For a moment, Rex caught a glimpse of the woman – the Jedi – she’d become. She didn’t look like an excitable teenager with a temper and a drive to save everybody, but a Jedi with the weight of the galaxy hanging on her shoulders and a responsibility to do the right thing at all times. It was an impressive vision, especially since Rex probably wouldn’t be around long enough to see her be Knighted.

“I don’t know . . . I guess you’re right too . . . But if neither of you are wrong, then what lesson am I supposed to learn here?”

“Hey.” She looked up. “Don’t grow up too fast, okay?”

She gave him a small smile. “No promises, Rexter,” she said. “We’re at war. And I’m a Jedi. I have to be ready for whatever they throw at me.”

He looked away. “Right. You’re right, ma’am.”

She laughed. “Ma’am? I didn’t give you an order, Rex. What happened to ‘kid’ or ‘littl’un?’ I liked that one.”

She did? He usually just brought that one out to tease her. He turned toward the pod again. “Sorry. Force of habit. Here, why don’t you –”

He felt a hand on his shoulder, right over the bandages he’d wrapped around his upper arm. “Rex.” He looked over. “Don’t you grow up too fast, either.”

He stepped back and let out a small chuckle, but it sounded bitter. He hadn’t meant it to. “I don’t really have a choice, do I? I’m only ten, remember?”

She let him go, looking a little put out. Stang, he must’ve said the wrong thing.

“I know,” she said. “Just . . . you know what I mean, right?”

“I know what you mean,” he assured her. “And I do appreciate the sentiment. Now come on, let’s go save those damn villagers.”

“Yes, sir.” _Huh?_ Rex missed a step and she laughed at him. “Here. Why don’t you let me get that?” She reached out one of her hands and narrowed her eyes. The pod Rex had been struggling to lift suddenly shifted before him and hovered a few feet off the ground. Ahsoka walked forward, levitating the pod just ahead of her stride. Rex followed her.

“You didn’t even need my help,” he accused, pointing a finger at her. “Why did I even come out here?”

“Who else was I gonna vent to?” Ahsoka asked, glancing back at him. “You’re good company, Rexter. The best.”

Oh.

That was it, then.

The rest of the pods moved much faster after that. Ahsoka used the Force to lift the pods and levitate them back to the village and into a makeshift wall on one side of the village. After only a few more trips, the pair saw that Bly and General Secura had returned and were conversing with Skywalker in low voices. The shield generators they’d stolen were lying out in the open, ready to be activated at a moment’s notice. Bly was holding a pair of long-range rifles.

Skywalker waved them over. “Rex,” he said as they approached. “Get on top of our, uh, ‘wall’ and keep a lookout. Those Separatist tanks are slow, but they’ve got to be nearly here by now.”

Rex gave him a nod and clambered atop one of the many pods they’d pushed into place. He grabbed his electrobinnoculars once more and held them up to his visor. Sure enough, he could make out three tanks and _a lot_ of droids marching steadily toward them just over the horizon.

“Droids inbound,” he announced glancing back at the others. He did a quick calculation. “We’ve got eight minutes, tops.”

“Come on, guys, let’s get these shield generators in place,” Skywalker ordered. Rex took one last look at the approaching enemy and then slid down to help with the final preparations. One way or another, this would all be over in a few minutes. As Bly and General Secura tapped a few buttons on the generators and began shepherding them deeper into the village, Wag Too and Tee Watt Kaa appeared. The village leader was, of course, very agitated.

“Pray stop what you’re doing,” he shouted at Ahsoka, who was busy using the Force to shift the position of one of the pods. “Stop building that wall! I did not ask you to defend us.”

“This battle is inevitable,” Skywalker said. Ahsoka shifted the pod into place and moved to stand beside him. “You can stand by your beliefs, but let us stand by ours.”

Tee Watt Kaa scowled and walked away without another word. Ahsoka made a motion as though she were about to go after him and try – once again – to talk sense into him, but Rex held her back. They had more pressing issues to deal with.

“Thank you for what you’re trying to do,” piped up Wag Too. He looked down. “I’m sorry, but I cannot help. My father is very . . . strong-willed and set in tradition. Many others agree with me, but we were raised under a very strict code. We must respect it, even if we don’t agree.” Rex snorted, but kept it confined to his helmet. That sounded like a couple other people he knew. He actually found he felt sorry for the little furball. He genuinely seemed like a good person. He was just being held back from doing what he felt he should by an overbearing parent.

Ahsoka reached out and patted Wag Too on the shoulder, assuring him that she understood. Rex turned and climbed atop the pods again. Kriff, he was really exposed. He held up the electrobinnoculars again, but he barely needed them now. The droids were maybe a mile off.

“They’re holding position,” he reported.

“They’re not going to charge us,” Skywalker predicted, “not if they can hit us from long range first. But if we can withstand that weapon, we’ll draw them in.”

No matter what, this was going to be a close fight.

The canon fired. Rex tracked the mortar shell as it arced high into the air, then turned and jumped off the pods. “Incoming!”

“Power the shields!” Skywalker called back into the village.

Bly and General Secura flicked the two generators on simultaneously, causing blue streams of light and energy to shoot out from them and into the sky, forming a large, domed shield around the entire village. Then, they hustled over to meet Rex, Ahsoka, and Skywalker behind the wall. Bly handed Rex one of the rifles he’d scavenged.

“Not a lot of spare ammo,” he warned. “Make your shots count.” Rex nodded and accepted the rifle, turning it over in his hands and checking the charge level out of habit.

He heard the mortar hit the ground outside. Rex saw the wall of flames erupt out from the impact site, rushing toward the shield, eating up ground at an alarming rate. For a moment, he felt nervous. What if the shield failed? What if the Sep’s new weapon was just too powerful for the generators to handle?

But no, as he watched, fire climbed around the shield, at least thirty feet high on all sides. The shield held.

“Now they’ll have to get their hands dirty and meet us face-to-face,” said Skywalker. He was awfully confident for someone with their head and chest covered in bandages. “Come on.” In a single leap, he bounded over the wall of pods, clearly calling on the Force to assist him. Ahsoka and General Secura followed close behind, leaving Rex and Bly to slowly clamber over the pods, rifles in hand.

“That’s a lot of clankers,” Ahsoka said. Rex straightened. She was right. At least two platoons of battle droids were running across the field toward their shield, blasters raised but not firing yet. Rex jumped off the other side of the pods, landing just behind the Jedi.

“We’ve got to stop them before they get through that shield,” Skywalker said. “Keep it tight.”

“Yes, sir,” Rex nodded.

“Copy that,” Bly said.

The Jedi led the way through the shield, igniting their lightsabers. Rex stepped through just behind them, rifle raised. As he passed through the blue barrier, the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Energy shields always felt strange. But they were dead useful. Clearly.

The droids began firing.

The three Jedi rushed forward, lightsabers blazing. They spun, slashed, dodged and deflected, making the droids focus on them. Rex was grateful. With so little cover, he and Bly had little choice but to stand directly in front of the shield and firing into the incoming wave of metal. Without Jedi they would’ve been dead in seconds.

The story of his life.

_ _ _

Ahsoka spun and took out a droid at its legs, deflecting a stray blaster bolt into a second droid’s chest almost simultaneously, her backhanded grip on her lightsaber allowing her a much more fluid defensive posture. Beside her, Anakin and Aayla were on the offensive, killing droids on upstroke and downstroke. One moment, Ahsoka was swinging her ‘saber in a wide arc, deflecting four bolts into three different droids. The next, she was leaping into the air, bringing her lightsaber down and cutting through the heads of two more battle droids.

Ahsoka glanced up and realized she was staring down the barrel of a blaster. Uh-oh. Skyguy would kill her for letting her guard down. Too bad she’d already be dead.

Then a blaster bolt came out of nowhere and took the droid’s head off. She glanced back. Rex shifted his rifle away from her position and returned to firing into the other droids ahead of her. _Good old Rex_. Ahsoka returned to slashing the remaining droids – few in number. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Anakin stabbed the last remaining droid and it feel to the ground with a small groan.

Ahsoka let out a breath. “That wasn’t so hard,” she said, looking up at the other two Jedi.

“That was just the first wave,” Anakin warned, casting his eyes ahead.

Ahsoka looked up just as more blaster bolts began flying toward them. Another wave, twice the size of the first, was running forward. It looked to be the entire remainder of the droid forces. This group included both battle droids and super battle droids. Great. Ahsoka and the others charged forward, engaging the front rank head-on. For every droid they destroyed, another one stepped in to take their place. At some point, the droids were so thick around them that they just started slipping past, not bothering to engage the Jedi at all.

“They’re getting past us!” Master Secura warned.

“Snips, get back to the village!” Anakin ordered. Ahsoka looked back at him. “I’ll take care of the new weapon.”

She nodded and began the retreat, cutting down any droids in her way. Master Secura was hot on her heels deflecting and cutting down droids the entire way. As they neared the shield, she saw Rex and Bly step back into it, scrambling back over the wall of pods as the droids got closer and closer. The first ranks of droids stepped through the energy barrier and a pair of SBDs blasted a whole straight through the wall of pods and into the village. Droids began filing in, already shooting. Ahsoka put on a burst of Force-speed and jumped, sailing over the wall and landing on top of an SBD, which sliced in half at the shoulder.

“They’re taking out the shield generator’s!” Rex bellowed, finding cover beside an overturned pod.

He was right. Laser fire found the first generator, then the second, and suddenly the shield overhead vanished, only to be replaced by the glow of the evening sun. Ahsoka shifted her position and put herself directly in front of the droids’ lines, focused more on deflecting fire away from the villagers than taking out droids herself. All around, Lurmen were screaming and running for cover as droids tried to target them, firing into their homes.

Suddenly, several Lurman rolled onto the battlefield, some bouncing around droids and hacking at them with farming tools, others threading a long line of rope around the legs of a particularly dense cluster. They were fighting! Ahsoka resisted the temptation to sag with relief; there was still a battle going on. Wag Too pulled on the rope one of the other Lurmen had tied around the droids’ legs and pulled. A domino effect occurred, causing all the droids – regulars and SBDs alike – to topple over. Seeing her opportunity, Ahsoka darted forward and dragged her lightsaber in a wide circle, decapitating each battle droid that had fallen.

“Weapon disabled!” Rex called, one hand to the side of his helmet. _Skyguy did it!_ A cheer went up from around the village. Lurmen jumped for joy, waved their makeshift, weapons in the air, and embraced one another. They were safe. And they were safe because they fought for their freedom. Ahsoka found Wag Too in the crowd of furry faces and gave him another nod and a real, genuine smile.

He returned the gesture.

“That,” Rex had appeared beside her, rifle slung over one shoulder, “was cutting it close.”

“It’s just our style, I guess,” Ahsoka said, looking up at him. “But we made it work. And the Lurmen even helped!”

“If they didn’t, I dunno if we’d all be standing here,” Rex said. “Then again, General Skywalker _did_ secure that weapon all by himself.”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “Well _we_ secured the village. And saved a bunch of innocent lives. He can’t get _all_ the credit.”

“Speaking off . . .” She looked up. Anakin was returning to the village, leading a tall, rather fat Neimoidian with his lightsaber. _That must be the Separatist commander_. “Looks like I should go give him a hand.” And Rex was gone again, meeting Anakin halfway and snapping a pair of binders onto the Neimoidian’s hands. As Rex and Bly secured the prisoner aboard their stolen shuttle, Ahsoka gathered with Anakin and Aayla, who were in conversation with Wag Too.

“Thank you, Wag Too,” Anakin was saying.

“Thank _you,_ ” he responded. “Our village would certainly have been destroyed without your protection.” Something caught his eye. “Father, I was just offering the Jedi our thanks.” Ahsoka turned to see Tee Watt Kaa shuffling over. To her relief, he didn’t look _quite_ as grave as the last time she had seen him.

“Perhaps,” he said, his tone a fraction softer, “we do owe you thanks. But I still wonder . . . at what cost?” He looked up, suddenly staring at something over Ahsoka’s shoulder.

Turning, she looked toward the evening sky and saw three Republic star destroyers descending through the cloud layer. _Finally._ The Admiral had found them. Still, she glanced down at the Lurmen, who were all looking up with a mixture of curiosity and weariness, she hoped that this wouldn’t cause them all to be drawn into the war.

_The Separatists know about this planet now. They’ll know we helped them._

They had already been drawn in. Whether they wanted it or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, there's only one 'arc' left in Year 1. Hold on to your hats, because we're diverging from canon next time.
> 
> Thank you for over 2000 hits and 100 kudos! It's kinda crazy to think that that many people have seen something I worked on.


	21. Unstable

**The _Resolute_ , over Orto Plutonia**

“Weren’t you not supposed to be coming along?” Rex asked wryly. He leaned against the open bay door, watching as Ahsoka crossed the hanger towards him. Rex wore his specialized ‘cold assault gear.’ Temperatures were far below freezing out there. The girl wore a parka long enough to be dress, thick snow pants and boots in place of her usual simple leggings, miniskirt, and chest-wrap. Gloves covered her hands and the fur-lined hood that sheltered most of her head was made specifically to allow her short montrals to poke out the top.

She shrugged. “Togrutas aren’t exactly made for freezing planets,” she said. “Shili and Kiros are pretty warm. I had the option to opt out, but it was either this or go back to the temple for my _studies_. I chose this.” She drew even with him, standing just outside the gunship and looking up.

“How very responsible of you,” Rex commented.

“I have a responsibility to the men under my command, isn’t that right?” She had him there. “’Sides: you’d miss me if I was gone.”

Rex thought about that. It was true; he probably would miss her if she wasn’t there. Besides, things didn’t seem to go too well for them when they didn’t handle things together. He thought back to his and Cody’s disastrous inspection of the Rishi moon base – _Well, that wasn’t all bad; I got Fives and Echo out of that mission_ – and of course he’d heard all about Ahsoka’s last encounter with Asajj Ventress from both her and Gree. Maybe he was being selective. Still, sometimes he wondered if a Jedi had been with them, they might have been able to fend off the droids and Hevy wouldn’t have had to sacrifice himself to save the day.

Ahsoka stepped up into the gunship beside him and began fiddling with the hem of her furry parka. She didn’t stop.

“You okay, kid?”

“Yeah . . .” she muttered. “It’s just . . . this is a lot of _stuff_. I feel so heavy. I’m not used to it. And all my skin is covered.”

“You’ll be glad for that when we get down there,” Rex said. “I think this is the most practical thing I’ve seen you wear thus far into the war.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Take it however you like,” Rex said. He paused. “For what it’s worth, you . . . look good.”

“Oh?” Rex didn’t like the sudden intrigue that had crept into her voice. “ _Really?_ ”

Rex cleared his throat. He dug himself this grave; he’d have to lie in it. “Yes.”

“What exactly does that –”

“Hey, Appo,” Rex waved to the clone, who was approaching with his squad, all carrying sensor sticks. The younger man nodded to him and approached, his men trailing behind him in loose formation.

“What are they carrying?” Ahsoka asked, resorting to normalcy and sounding more than a little disappointed that she wasn’t able to torment Rex with others around.

“Sensor sticks,” Rex explained. “We’ll put ‘em in the ground and collect data on the area with the scans they put out. We have no idea what caused this outpost to go dark, and the surrounding area is far from hospitable, so we’ll be relying more on equipment than manpower to figure this out.”

“That’s good,” Ahsoka nodded. “The fewer lives risked, the better, right?”

“You bet.”

“Sir. Ma’am,” Appo said, saluting to them both as he and his men filed into the gunship’s passenger bay.

“At ease,” Ahsoka said, giving him a small salute back.

“It’s going to be crowded in here at this rate,” Appo said. “Skywalker, Kenobi, and the two droids they’re bringing are going to be aboard this larty, too.”

“Be thankful we’re not inserting under heavy fire,” Rex said.

“I am. Intensely.”

_Speak of the devil_.

Skywalker and Kenobi were making their way across the hanger bay, clad in parkas similar to Ahsoka’s, trailed by R2-D2 and – for some reason – Senator Amidala’s gold protocol droid, C-3PO. The only difference in their appearance was that they wore masks and goggles in addition to their standard winter gear. Rex glanced down.

“Not a fan of the goggles, littl’un?”

She scowled. “Skyguy said I’m not allowed to drive speeders in these conditions, so there ‘wasn’t any point in me wearing any.’”

“If it comes up, I’ll try not to gloat too much.”

She couldn’t get in a snarky reply, because the two older Jedi had drawn even with them. “We ready to go, Rex?” Skywalker asked.

Rex snapped to attention. “Yes, sir. Hawk’s ready to take off whenever you give the order.”

“Good,” Skywalker said. “The Senator and the Chairman are on board Jinx’s larty. He says they’re ready. Let’s take off.”

“Yes, sir.” Rex switched to the gunship pilot’s comm frequency. “Let’s get going, Hawk.”

“Copy that, sir. Taking off.”

Rex reached up and gripped the overhead rail and the larty shifted. The blast hatches slid shut as the drives kicked up and the gunship hovered over the bulkhead. And then they had taken off. It was a short flight. Given that there were no Separatist ships in their airspace – or on the planet at all – they had the luxury of keeping the _Resolute_ close at hand and could deploy wherever they wanted; including directly over their target landing area.

In no time at all, the gunship was gliding to a halt over frozen ground.

“Keep warm out there, sirs!” called Hawk over the gunship’s radio, allowing the troop bay doors to slide open.

Rex watched on, waving his men out as Generals Skywalker and Kenobi stepped out into blizzard level conditions, followed closely by Ahsoka. He had never been gladder to be wearing cold assault gear. He barely felt the cold that no doubt was managing to penetrate the thick parkas the Jedi wore.

“And this is the planet’s _tropical_ zone,” Kenobi commented wryly.

“It’s not Tatooine, that’s for sure,” Skywalker replied. His General turned to him. “Captain Rex, have your men survey the area. Place as many sensor beacons as you can before dark.”

“Right away, sir,” Rex nodded. He turned back to Appo and his men, who were busy pulling weapons and sensor equipment from inside the gunship. “Unload that gear! Let’s move!” The two droids they’d brought with them disembarked from the transport as well.

He figured the astromech might be useful in accessing the base’s logs and whatnot, but he still wasn’t sure why they had brought the protocol droid. Maybe it was just to make the Chairman and Senator happy. _Speaking of . . ._ Satisfied that Appo had the organization under control, Rex caught up with his Jedi Generals just as Del, Ross, and a team of Pantorian security were escorting Chairman Chi Cho and Senator Riyo Chuchi from one of the other gunships that had just touched down.

“General Kenobi,” said the Chairman, a tall, blue-skinned Pantoran with a pronounced nose and an expression that always made him look as though he was scowling with disdain.

“Chairman Cho, Senator Chuchi,” Kenobi said, nodding to each in turn. “I suggest you wait here until we can secure the area.” Rex had to agree with the man. None of the Pantorans had ever seen combat like his boys had and would undoubtedly be a liability if they got into real trouble. Dead weight to look after. As a rule of thumb, Rex believed that all politicians had no guts and didn’t have any real-world experience that made them worth knowing. _Except, perhaps, Senator Amidala. General Skywalker seems to think so, anyway._

“I respect your judgement, General Kenobi,” said the Chairman, drawing even with them, “but I will go where I chose. This is sovereign Pantoran territory.”

“I thought this planet was uninhabited,” General Skywalker said, “and therefore, not aligned.”

_You tell ‘im, General._

“Our moon of Pantora is the only civilization in this system,” the Chairman maintained. “ _I’m_ the one who asked the Senate to protect this planet.” _So_ you’re _the reason why an entire unit of clones got sent here and got wiped out._ “This wasteland belongs to us.”

Kenobi was getting frustrated; something that Rex did not see often. “With all due respect, Chairman, this is for the Senate to decide, not us.”

“Ah, but the Jedi report to the Senate, which is Senator Chuchi of Pantora.”

The Senator, a girl who couldn’t be any older than Ahsoka – _who the hell elects a Senator at fifteen?_ – stepped forward, looking a bit nervous. “Technically, speaking, Master Jedi, the Chairman is correct. Since the planet is uninhabited, the moon of Pantora reserves the right to continue as its protectorate.”

“Point taken, Senator,” Kenobi said, and Rex could almost _hear_ his eye-roll. He turned to General Skywalker. “Anakin, you and Ahsoka stay here with the Senator and the droids while we secure the base.” Skywalker nodded, though Rex could tell he was less than thrilled at the prospect. Ahsoka glanced at Rex, looking just as exasperated. He knew she wanted to be where the action was; inside. General Kenobi, Chairman Cho, and the other Pantorans broke off and began striding toward the base’s entrance. Rex waved over Del’s and Kano’s squads and jogged after them, making sure the charge on his DC-15 was full.

The base was mostly a natural formation – a tall plateau of rock topped with snow and ice. The Republic outpost had been built into the plateau; the inside had been hollowed out and a network of elevators, platforms, and equipment had been moved inside and a unit of clones had been stationed there.

Contact had been lost with Commander Mag and his men days ago.

And so, here they were. Normally a unit like the Galactic Marines or the 313th Legion who were specifically trained for extreme cold environments would be dispatched. However, since the 501st was the best of the best, they had been cross-trained in order to be able to survive and fight in a multitude of different roles. Since Skywalker was coming along, so were they.

The heavy metal double doors slowly rumbled open after Denal fiddled with the controls for a moment. Inside, the lights were off. Not speaking, he motioned to the men. They split into two groups – one took the left, the other took the right – and began securing the entrance, blasters raised, trigger fingers ready. He, Kenobi, and Chairman Cho stayed at the middle of the group, walking through the center of the empty room. Almost empty.

In a strange pattern, several pikes were driven into the ground not far beyond the doors, all as tall as Rex’s head. Atop each pike was a clone helmet; some the standard rank-and-file ones, others were specialized cold assault helmets. General Kenobi strode forward and reached out, removing one of the helmets from its pike. Rex let out a sigh of relief upon seeing that no disembodied head was positioned underneath it. He didn’t need to see that today. Looking around though, some of the other helmets were stained with blood. Some had small flecks here and there, while others had dark swaths of the stuff painted across the otherwise white surface.

“I don’t get it,” he said. Droids didn’t do this.

“It must be Separatists,” said the Chairman.

“I’m not sure,” Kenobi said slowly.

Rex had to agree. This was all very strange. They swept the facility floor by floor, finding nothing. Nothing aside from more dead _vod’e_. There were no blaster marks on any of their bodies. Only stab wounds from physical blades. And blood. Lots of blood. Eventually, they ended up in the command center on the top floor.

“Do you think the Separatists are building a forward base to attack Pantora?” the Chairman ventured, standing in front of the main console, overlooking the room like some imperious warlord.

Kenobi stood in front of one of the room’s main windows, peering out into the blizzard outside. Rex crossed the room to stand beside him, tearing himself away from the body of a fallen clone, his armor covered in a thin layer of frost. “I don’t think we’re dealing with Separatists,” Kenobi said. “These computers haven’t been touched.”

A burst of comm chatter filled Rex’s ear. “Sir. Sir, can you hear me? It’s Echo here.”

“Go ahead, Echo.”

“Fives, Joc, and I are on an overlook not far from you,” the kid reported. “We’ve got eyes on what looks to be a droid outpost just on the other side of the ice ridge we landed on.”

“Do you see any enemy movement?”

“Do we see any enemy movement?”

“That’s what I said.”

There was a pause. “Negative, sir. Should we take a closer look?”

“No. I’ll notify the General. We’ll be over as soon as possible.”

“Copy that.”

Maybe it was droids after all, and this was some weird new strategy the Seps were employing. He wouldn’t put anything past them.

“Sir,” Rex said, catching Kenobi’s attention, “our scouts have spotted a droid base on the other side of the ice ridge.”

He nodded. “Follow me, Captain. We’ll retrieve Anakin and head over. Perhaps there will be some indication of what has happened.” The pair took the lift back down to the ground floor and emerged back out into the snow storm. Rex transmitted a brief set of orders to Kano and Del: They were to continue securing the outpost and removing the bodies of the fallen troopers. In the meantime, he grabbed Boro and Coric before falling in beside General Kenobi once more as they approached General Skywalker, Ahsoka, and Senator Chuchi.

“What’s the situation?” Ahsoka asked, clearly eager to get back to _doing something_.

She was to be disappointed, however.

“We’ve secured the outpost,” Kenobi told them. “Anakin, Rex, and I are going to investigate a droid base that some of the men have discovered not far from here. Ahsoka, you are going to remain here with the Senator and the Chairman.”

“What?” she blustered. “But –”

“Snips,” General Skywalker said in his ‘don’t-argue-with-me’ tone, “someone has to stick around and be in charge of the troops. While we’re gone, that’s you.”

“Yes, Master,” Ahsoka said, deflating. She walked back toward the base with the young senator in tow.

Rex spared her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder before following his generals to where five CK-6 Swoop Bikes – or, Freeco bikes, as the men called them – sat waiting for them, already prepared for take-off by the troops. He, Skywalker, Kenobi, Boro, and Coric mounted up and took off into the blizzard. They honed in on the scouts’ locator beacon and were soon joined by Fives, Echo, and Joc. The newcomers took the lead and directed them to a huge, strangely shaped metal garrison with the markings of the CIS on it. Rex pulled his bike up short and hit the canopy release. Grabbing his DC-15, he climbed out, trudging over to where the others were congregating.

Upon his approach, Fives took a step back, allowing Rex to see what they were all staring at. More pikes were stuck into the ground around the entrance to the structure, though these had the heads of battle droids attached to the top with rope. If it weren’t so eerie, Rex would have grinned. Usually, the sight of already-destroyed droids was a welcome one. This time, it was just unnerving.

“By the look of things,” Skywalker said, placing a hand on one droid’s head. His goggles were pulled down over his eyes and he had a balaclava over his nose and mouth, “I’d say whoever attacked our base took out the droids also.”

“Rex,” said General Kenobi, turning to him, “help Anakin place the sensor beacons. You four, come with me.” He split off from them, with Fives, Echo, Joc, and Boro trailing after him. They circled around the droid base, looking for a back-way in. Anakin led the way toward what seemed to be the front entrance of the base, Rex and Coric bringing up the rear.

“Look,” Anakin pointed to an open entry ramp along the side of the metallic structure. “I guess whoever was here left the door open for us. Let’s check it out.” Skywalker led the way forward through the snow.

“Coric – watch our backs.”

“Yes, sir.”

Rex crept up the ramp, his deece raised and ready to fire, Skywalker walking up behind him. He froze, whirling around. On all sides of the ramp were battle droids, hunkered down and ready to open up a crossfire on him and the General. “ _Shit._ ”

“What do you see, sir?” Coric called.

“It’s nothing,” Skywalker said, setting a calming hand on Rex’s shoulder. “There’s more dead droids here. They’re strung up to look they’re standing. Come on up.” As Coric ascended the ramp, Rex lowered his blaster and peered deeper into the base. Just ahead was a snow-covered hallway, with more pikes and droid heads decorating the ground. Kenobi appeared in the doorway of what seemed to be an observation deck above them, flanked by Boro.

“Did you find anything?” he called. Beside him, General Skywalker knelt before a snowdrift, placing one hand in a large depression in the snow.

“I found some large footprints,” Skywalker called back. Rex glanced down. Large was putting it mildly. The print – if that’s what it was – was three or four times the size of any clone’s boot. He really didn’t want to meet whatever made it, especially if they managed to take out two whole outposts full of droids and clones.

“Have one of your men make a cast,” Kenobi recommended, turning back and disappearing inside the door.

Rex nodded at Coric, who obligingly disappeared to retrieve the appropriate gear from their Freeco bikes. He and the General continued deeper into the base, climbing a ladder that led up to the room Kenobi and the others were milling about in. In the center of the room was a circular holoprojector – deactivated. Kenobi hovered over it, pressing a few buttons. The projector made a few whirring sounds, but nothing happened.

“Sensors are in place,” Skywalker informed him.

“I think I found something,” Kenobi said, still trying to activate the console to no avail. “Blast it . . .”

Smirking, Skywalker thumped his fist against the projector. Just like that, the machine whirred to life and a hologram appeared. It was a battle droid, looking around frantically. One metal hand gripped its blaster as it shot at something off-screen, while the other activated the radio in its head.

“Six-eight-five to command,” the droid shouted, sounding panicked. “There are too many of them. They’ve overrun the base. We need reinforcements! Ah –!” It was cut off as something huge, humanoid, and furry appeared for a split second and tackled the droid. The transition ended.

“What was that?” Skywalker wondered.

“Whatever it was,” Kenobi mused, striking his famous hand-to-beard pose, “it’s a good warrior.”

Rex pressed a few buttons on the now-working console, bringing up the last few log entries. Droids might be stupid, but they at least knew how to adhere to protocol. “The droids log indicates . . .” he said, scanning the most recent entry, “they were investigating the southern canyon.”

“Sounds like a good place to start,” Kenobi said, turning and pulling his goggles down over his face once more. “Come on, Anakin. Let’s get going.”

“Do you want me and the boys to come with you, sir?”

“No, Captain,” Kenobi said, waving one hand. “Take your men back to the outpost and wait for our return. We don’t want to provoke any conflict if this was all simply a misunderstanding.”

“Very good, sir.”

_ _ _

“There’s some kind of reflection up there,” said Obi-Wan, peering through his electrobinnoculars. “Do you see it?”

“Yep.” Anakin leaned against his Freeco bike, staring in the same direction as him. As he watched, Anakin turned his head, scanning the cliffs around them. Obi-Wan followed his gaze, only to see a second light blink high along the opposite ridge line.

There was only one thing that could mean.

“Well,” he said, “they know we’re coming. Let’s go.”

The two Jedi got back into their speeder bikes and speed along the canyon. As they proceeded further and further in, Obi-Wan noticed more reflections blink along ridgelines. News of their arrival and approach was undoubtedly being relayed to whatever camp these creatures made their homes. He could feel the Force-signatures of many living beings around them; they were being watched.

The Jedi slowed their speeder bikes as they crossed what seemed to be a natural ice bridge across a wide chasm. On the other side, a simple village of huts was set up within a large sheltered inlay of the cliff face. Obi-Wan could see several of the tall, furry beings that had appeared on the hologram in the Separatist outpost gathering in what seemed to be the village’s center. Some had spears; others rode immense, canine creatures. He pulled his speeder to stop and opened the canopy, stepping out onto the snow-covered bridge. Beside him, Anakin did the same.

As a small group of the creatures approached, slow and lumbering, Obi-Wan felt Anakin’s emotions spike in the Force and knew he was reaching for his lightsaber. “Steady, Anakin,” he warned. “They’re only curious.” His former Padawan relaxed. “Let’s not provoke them as the droids and our troops must have done.”

The creatures arranged themselves into a pattern, flanking one particular creature that wore some sort of purple animal skin around its shoulders and head. Obi-Wan and Anakin approached, but were blocked when a pair of creatures crossed their spears in front of them. They waited.

The creature that all the others were flanking – perhaps the village’s spiritualist – approached. He stared at the two humans for a moment, then waved one arm and turned away. The two creatures holding spears before Obi-Wan and Anakin stepped back, standing nearby, still on guard. The two Jedi glanced at each other for a moment, then followed the spiritualist deeper into the village. A few of the creatures let out a serious of snorts and grunts.

“Too bad we didn’t bring Threepio along,” Anakin muttered. “How do you plan on communicating with these things?”

“Patience,” Obi-Wan assured him. “Maybe they’re smarter than we are.” He hoped so, because whatever language the creatures had developed was far outside the realm of even his vast collection of knowledge. He would just have to trust the Force and – to take a page out of Anakin’s playbook – wing it.

They stopped outside of a hut deep within the village. Three creatures stood before them. The one in the center wore some sort of cloth around its neck, along with a necklace of teeth and bones – most likely the mark of a fearsome warrior. _This must be their chieftain._

The chieftain let out a series of snorts and towered over them for a moment. Then, it raised a spear high into the air, held it for a moment, and drove it into the ground between itself and the two Jedi.

Anakin nudged Obi-Wan. “Well,” he smirked. “ _Say_ _something_.”

“Just shut up.” Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and sank into a quick bow. Mercifully, Anakin followed his lead without further comment.

The chieftain, seemingly accepting of their response, stepped back and entered the hut, beckoning for the humans to follow. They did so, followed by the spiritualist and a few other of the creatures, evidently curious to see what the small, furless beings wanted. It was warm inside. In the center of the hut, there was a roaring fire casting sharp, warm light across every surface in the room. The floor of the hut was constructed like an old theatre – the fire was placed in the bottom of a small pit, and concentric, circles rose up around it, providing ample seating for all those within the hut.

For a few moments, everyone just stared at one another, unsure of what to do. Obi-Wan doubted the creatures understood much – if any – Basic. Luckily, the village spiritualist seemed to come up with something. Holding up a piece of what seemed to be wood. Where that came from, Obi-Wan wasn’t sure, but he was glad they had thought of it. The spiritualist began scratching something into the wood. After a few moments, the creature held up a fairly image of a battle droid in front of the chieftain. The chieftain growled and pointed at the image, making a furious fist with one hand and snarling menacingly.

Obi-Wan spoke slowly and clearly. “We come to you in peace.” Beside him, Anakin began scratching an image in his own piece of wood. “We will not bring harm.”

“Peace.” Anakin emphasized, holding up his own drawing. It was two figures, one larger than the other, wrapped around each other in an embrace.

The chieftain and the spiritualist conferred together for a few moments. It was hard to tell what they might be thinking; their four eyes did not convey much emotion. In addition, they did not have mouths, per say, just small snouts protruding from their lower face. In the Force, however, the creatures seemed placated. There were no feelings of aggression there that Obi-Wan could sense. Perhaps they were on the road to smoothing things over.

Night had fallen completely by the time Obi-Wan and Anakin exited the tent. Everything was much more stable now. The droids had provoked the creatures – the _Talz_ – and they had retaliated in kind. The clones at their outpost had been caught in the middle. The whole situation was simply one immense misunderstanding, just as Obi-Wan had predicted. The Talz now understood that the humans meant them no harm and that they would not be bothered further. In order to ensure this, they had worked out a meeting between them and the Pantorans so that they could fully recognize one another.

Everything was going rather well, if Obi-Wan did say so himself. Standing outside the tent of the chieftain, Thi-Sen, Obi-Wan extended his hand so he might shake it. Instead, the large Talz rushed forward and embraced him in a bone-crushing hug that lifted him off the ground. Behind him, he heard Anakin let out an amused chuckle. Thi-Sen released him and he stumbled back, dusting himself off a little. Hugs weren’t usually befitting of a Jedi Master.

“Well, that went better than I expected,” Anakin said as they trekked back toward their speeders.

“Yes, well, I believe that was actually the easy part,” Obi-Wan said. “We now have to convince Chairman Cho to agree to a meeting.”

Anakin frowned. “You have a point there . . . Still, we might’ve just stopped any real conflict from starting, right?”

Obi-Wan glanced back at the small village, illuminated by the numerous fires that the Talz had started to keep themselves warm and light their homes. “Yes . . . I hope so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise: you finally get Obi-Wan's perspective!
> 
> This is kinda fun because it's the first arc since the Aftermath of Teth where I really get to bring in the 501st and put in a bunch of clones that don't all die.
> 
> Rex and Ahsoka's scene in the beginning was loosely inspired by something someone else had written, though as far as I can tell it was just a one-shot and didn't have a name, because I can't find it anymore and thus can't credit it :(


	22. Vanishing Grace

**Orto Plutonia**

Despite the fact that she was still sour at being left behind while the boys went to investigate this ‘droid outpost,’ Ahsoka found that Senator Riyo Chuchi was actually quite enjoyable company. Once Anakin was out of the picture, the young Senator had begun to open up a little more. _She must’ve just been nervous around a full-grown Jedi._ She was perfectly content to chat to someone her own age.

Riding the lift up to the newly-secured base’s command center, they’d chatted about their ages, their responsibilities, what it was like to have slightly overbearing mentors, and anything else that came up. Then, the doors slid open, revealing the command center, and Ahsoka’s good spirits dried up. 501st troopers were in the process of removing the bodies of the dead clones from the premises. She knew that. But she hadn’t expected there to be so _many_ of them. And _so much_ blood.

“Oh . . .”

“Ahsoka?” Riyo asked, stopping as she stepped out of the turbolift to look at her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I – I’m fine. I just . . . I didn’t expect all this . . .”

Riyo glanced around, then spoke in a low voice. “I – Neither did I . . . I’ve never seen so many dead bodies before.”

Ahsoka finally stepped out of the lift. “How do you hide it?”

The Pantoran girl gave her a small smile. “I’m a politician, remember? I have a good Sabacc face. It . . . It _is_ shocking, though. It’s terrible what happened to these men.”

“Senator. Commander.” Ahsoka turned around to see Denal standing behind them, arms clasped behind his back at parade rest. “I’m . . . sorry you had to see this. It’s taking longer than we thought to clear out the dead.”

“It’s alright, Denal,” Ahsoka said, reaching out and placing a hand on his left arm, just above his bracer. “Take all the time you need.”

She felt him brighten somewhat before nodding and turning away again. A more genuine smile touched her lips. Happy that she had made _someone_ feel a bit better, she turned back to Riyo, who was staring at her. “What?”

The other girl turned. “No . . . I – I probably shouldn’t ask.” She walked toward the main area of the command center, stopping in front of one of the consoles and staring out the window. Outside, the snow storm had momentarily cleared, allowing a breathtaking view of the icy planes that stretched out for miles around them.

Ahsoka caught up with her. “No,” she said, “you already started it. C’mon, tell me! It can’t be _that_ bad.”

Once more, Riyo glanced around, as though scared someone would overhear her. Her eyes lingered on a few of the clones as they stooped to pick up a fallen trooper by the shoulders and legs. “How do you . . . How do you tell them apart? They’re, well, _clones_.”

“ _Oh_ ,” Ahsoka chuckled. “That. Well, they might be clones, but they really aren’t all the same. Especially when they take off their helmets. Some have scars, some have different eye colors, most of them have different hairstyles. But even when you can’t see their face, their voices have different tones and inflections. It’s even easier when they paint their armor, but they didn’t have much time to do that before this mission, so that’s why you can’t really see it right now.”

“I see . . .”

“Plus,” Ahsoka grinned, “they all feel different in the Force, so that helps.”

“Oh?” Riyo’s eyebrows shot up. “What’s that like?”

Ahsoka thought for a moment, unsure of exactly how to explain what she felt. “Everyone has a different Force-signature. Everyone _feels_ slightly different, even the clones. Take Captain Rex, for example, he’s . . .” Well, what exactly was he? “He’s _solid_. He feels smooth, but unbreakable. He’s got an edge, but it’s hidden behind a layer of warm gold. Now that’s different from Hardcase, who’s like wildfire – energetic, blunt, and wild.”

“Fascinating . . .”

“I want the weapon system back online and the shields operational,” snapped a harsh voice from behind them. Ahsoka turned. Chairman Cho was leaning over the main control console, barking orders at Sergeant Kano. “There’s no telling what the Separatists have planned.”

As though unable to help herself, Riyo turned and spoke up. “Chairman,” she said, “what makes you so certain the Separatists are behind this attack?”

“Look around, Senator,” the Chairman said. Ahsoka flinched. “Isn’t this carnage proof enough?”

“I know,” said Riyo, walking around the console to stand before the much taller Pantoran. Ahsoka followed, though she didn’t really want to stand to close to the Chairman; there was something about him she didn’t like, “but there are no dead droids here, no blast marks. The clones’ injuries were not consistent with what –”

“So, you’re an expert on war, now, are you, Senator?”

Riyo looked down, and Ahsoka felt her temper flare. “No, Chairman, I only –”

“Let me tell you something, Senator,” Chairman Cho kept talking right on over her. “I have led our people since before you were born. I have seen a hundred planes rise and fall through force of arms. If it’s not the Separatists out there, then it’s a malevolent and aggressive enemy nonetheless and I will not let whoever it is jeopardize the security of the people of Pantora.” As he spoke, he had stridden off the command console and was now standing in front of the door to the lift.

“But if the Jedi discover that the Separatists aren’t behind this, then perhaps there is a peaceful solution,” Riyo protested.

Chairman Cho, who had entered the lift, rounded on her. His voice was calm, but there was an edge to it colder than the ice outside. “Senator, I am willing to fight and die for my people. It’s time to ask yourself if _you_ are brave enough to do the same.”

The lift door slid shut.

Ahsoka was fuming. “How in the Force did _he_ end up chairman of Pantora?”

Riyo just looked deflated, as though the entire conversation had taken all the energy out of her. “He’s . . . been a leading member of the Pantoran Assembly for a long time – since before I was born, as he said. He’s led our people through numerous wars and crises. He’s been a respected member of the congregation, but . . .”

“But recently he’s going off the deep end?” Ahsoka asked, raising one brow.

“I . . . suppose you could say that,” Riyo said.

Ahsoka hit the lift button and the door slid open immediately. She stepped inside and pulled the Senator in with her. Turning, she hit the button for the lower hanger bay. She knew most of the clones who weren’t clearing the base and removing the dead were congregated there. She sensed her new friend needed a nice distraction, and what could be better than meeting the clones? When not on official duty, as those in the hanger were bound to be, the boys could be pretty candid and friendly.

If she could get them to let their guard down around a Senator, that is.

_ _ _

Rex led Coric, Boro, Fives, Echo, and Joc in a precession into the lower hanger of the no-longer-abandoned outpost. Parking his Freeco bike alongside the others and popped the canopy before climbing out. He surveyed the scene around him. The bay was mostly empty, though the odd clone or Pantoran entered and exited here and there, working on one task or another. Freeco bikes and BARC speeders were lined up against either wall, organized perfectly – no doubt Appo’s handiwork.

On the far side of the hanger bay, a congregation of troopers caught his attention. Rex began making his way toward them, wondering which slackers he was gonna have to write up this time. Then, voices that didn’t sound anything like his own deep, masculine tones reached his ears.

“. . . and _then_ he said ‘next time, _you’re_ lugging this astromech around!’” Everyone burst into laughter.

Rex drew even with them and folded his arms. Ahsoka stood with her back turned to him, the hood of her huge parka pulled down. Senator Chuchi sat on a crate right beside her, her posture more relaxed than Rex had seen it the entire trip, grinning broadly. A group of troopers surrounded them in a half-circle; leaning against speeders, standing, sitting on crates or on the floor. Jesse, Hardcase, Kix, Ross, and Hil.

Hil saw him first, his eyes going wide before he scrambled up from his position on the floor and snapped a crisp salute. “Captain Rex, sir!” The others hastened to imitate him.

“What, exactly,” Rex said in his ‘captain’ voice, “is going on here?”

Ahsoka jumped a little and whirled around – he was so close that she almost bumped her chin on his bracers. Senator Chuchi stiffened, looking nervous. “Oh! Hey, Rexter,” she put on a sheepish grin. “I was just, uh . . .”

“Telling tales out of school?” Rex said.

“You heard that, huh . . .”

“I heard enough.” He stared at her for a moment, trying to give her the impression that she was in trouble. “Anyone want to hear about the time I had to take a pair of vibrocutters to Zeer’s helmet after our _Commander_ decided she wanted to see what it was like to wear one and got stuck?”

“ _Rex!_ ”

“Let’s hear it!” Hardcase urged, his grin distorting the blue tattoo lines around his chin and right eye.

Rex put his hands on his hips. “This was about a week after she joined us on Christophsis,” he said. “Zeer was in the mess hall during lunch; had his helmet lying on one of the tables because he was busy tweaking his deece. He turned his back for a minute, and the Commander here decided she finally had a chance to see what it would be like to get under the helmet. So, she snatched it and jammed it onto her head before thinking through what the consequences might be. She quickly realized it wasn’t coming off.” Everyone burst into laughter, even the Senator. What little of Ahsoka’s orange skin Rex could see turned a much deeper shade, and her headtails took on a more vivid striping.

“What did Zeer do?” Kix asked.

“Knowing Skywalker would lose his mind, he brought her to my office,” Rex explained. “Told me that since this was a delicate situation, he was going to ‘pass responsibility onto a superior officer with more experience.’ Then he handed me his vibrocutters and watched while I cut his helmet open.”

“What did you do, Ahsoka?” asked Senator Chuchi around a mouthful of giggles. She seemed a lot more relaxed now. Maybe that was because the overbearing Chairman wasn’t around. Or she considered herself ‘off-duty.’ Or she’d gotten to know the clones better. Maybe all three.

Ahsoka, still blushing, grinned sheepishly. “I just kinda had to sit on Rex’s desk and hold _very_ still. I was terrified he was going to slip and cut into my head or montrals.”

“You think _you_ were scared?” Rex asked. “I was the one actually doing the cutting.”

“So we were both scared.”

Rex chuckled. “I think there’s a difference between being scared that you’re gonna get your skull spit open and being scared that _you’re_ gonna split your CO’s skull open.”

“Did this just become a pissing contest?”

“ _Hardcase_.” Jesse smacked his friend across the back of his shaven head. “Don’t push it.”

“That reminds me,” Rex said rounding on his troopers. “What exactly are you all doing here? Don’t you have _work to do?_ ”

“Er, well, not really,” explained Ross. “Our guard shift ended and we didn’t really have anything to do so we came down here. Then the Commander and the Senator found us and we just, er, got to talking.”

“My apologies, Captain,” Senator Chuchi spoke up. “I did not mean to distract your men from doing their duties.”

Rex waved one hand dismissively. He hadn’t thought he would be saying it, but he was actually starting to like the Senator. If she was willing to ‘stoop’ to the level of speaking to clones, she couldn’t be that bad. “It’s no trouble, Senator. I appreciate you talking to them.”

Ahsoka smiled at Rex. “I _told_ you he’d be fine with it.”

“Most people in your position don’t speak to us unless they’re giving orders,” explained Hil. “Er, no offense, ma’am.”

“Oh, none taken . . . Hil?”

He grinned.

“Come on, boys,” Rex said. “I’ll bet you’ve all been sitting around long enough. Go talk to Appo and see if anything needs done.”

“Sir, yes, sir.” The five troopers stood, saluted, grabbed their helmets, and marched off.

“I . . . really did not mean to intrude,” Senator Chuchi said.

“You had my permission,” Ahsoka reminded her.

“I meant what I said, Senator,” Rex said, reaching up and removing his helmet. The cold air of the hanger bay was a shock to his warm skin. As he breathed, little clouds erupted from his mouth. “The men do appreciate being paid attention to. Reminds them they’re human.”

“I see,” Senator Chuchi said, rising. “I will . . . be sure to remember that in the future. Thank you, Captain.” She gave him a small bow. “If you will excuse me, I am sure there are things I must attend to as well.”

And she was gone, leaving Rex and Ahsoka – mostly – alone.

“Making friends?” Rex asked.

Ahsoka leaned back on one of the crates. “She really is nice,” she said. “She’s a bit chattier once you get to know her. I think she has a good head on her shoulders.”

“She seemed alright around the boys; I’ll give her that much.”

“Where’re Skyguy and Master Obi-Wan?”

“They’re investigating one of the nearby canyons,” Rex said. He explained about the droid base they’d uncovered, as well as the strange creature they’d seen on the holorecording.

“So it _wasn’t_ the Separatists that attacked our base,” Ahsoka said.

“Looks that way,” Rex said. “We’ll know soon enough.”

It was several hours before Skywalker and Kenobi returned. In the meantime, all the bodies in the outpost had been collected and sent with Hawk back to the _Resolute_ so they could be ‘processed’ and sent back to Kamino. Rex hated that. If it were up to him, he’d have buried or cremated them. But, according to Chairman Cho, he was just _following protocol._ The resources for such efforts would be too ‘time-consuming and pointless.’ Bastard.

Eventually, Ringo, who was manning their scanners, reported that two speeders were detected on approach, and Rex hustled down to the hanger bay once more to meet the Jedi Generals as they returned. He stood at parade rest as Skywalker hopped out of his speeder just in front of him, Kenobi doing the same just behind him.

“Glad you made it back, sir,” Rex said, nodding to him. “It’s getting nasty out there.” Indeed, outside the snow squabble from earlier was riling up into a blizzard once more. One that was somehow fiercer than the one they’d arrived during.

“You don’t know the half of it,” General Skywalker said, and walked past Rex before he had a chance to inquire as to what exactly that meant. Turning, he saw that Senator Chuchi, Chairman Cho, Ahsoka, and the other Pantorans were approaching them.

“What did you find?” Chairman Cho asked Kenobi.

“It seems we’ve stumbled upon an inhabited planet,” Kenobi reported.

“Impossible,” the Chairman sneered. “Our explorers have spent much time here over the long history of Pantora. No one lives here. They’re trespassers.”

General Skywalker smirked briefly. Rex knew he was about to see General Kenobi knock the Pantoran down a peg or two. “With respect, Chairman Cho, these creatures, the Talz, aren’t advanced enough to master space travel. I think they may have been here longer than Pantora.”

“Whoever they are, they belong to us,” the Chairman spat. “This whole system belongs to _us_.”

_What the hell?_

Ahsoka looked as though she had swallowed something vile.

“Your Majesty,” Senator Chuchi broke in, “if there are life forms here, then the Senate must decide jurisdiction.”

“They are savages,” the Chairman said dismissively. “Look at what they’ve done. They’ve slaughtered your troops.”

Rex hated to admit it, but he was at least right about that. Those things had massacred an entire outpost of his brothers.

“They only want to be left alone,” said General Kenobi. “The droids attacked them and I’m afraid our outpost got caught in the middle.”

“They must be subdued. They’re dangerous.” He shifted his attention to Rex. “Captain Rex, prepare your troops for battle.”

Rex glanced at Skywalker. The young man waved him off. “We promised their chief there would be no retaliation.”

“We’ve arranged a meeting between the High Council and you and the Senator,” Kenobi explained. “They want peace.”

“We can’t send troopers. They’ll think we lied,” Skywalker said.

“These creatures are little more than animals,” said Chairman Cho. “You can’t lie to an animal. They can’t be trusted.”

Senator Chuchi stepped forward again. “But, Your Majesty –”

He rounded on her. “ _No_. It is obvious these creatures are not covered by the Convention of Civilized Systems. The Jedi Council has no say in the matter.”

“If the Jedi are able to communicate with them,” the little Senator said, “their status is in doubt.”

“Do you stand against your Chairman, Senator?” the Pantoran folded his arms and looked down his nose at her.

She looked taken aback. “Of course not, Your Majesty.”

“If we are going to meet with Thi-Sen and his council at the arranged time, we will have to leave now.” said General Kenobi, putting the discussion on hold.

That was it, then. Rex gathered up a contingent of his troops, leaving a few to hold the outpost, and began gathering gear together before they left. The Jedi and the Pantorans did the same. A few minutes later, General Skywalker approached him.

“Sir,” Rex reported, “the gunships can’t take off in this storm. We don’t have enough bikes for the entire platoon.”

“Have the rest of the men stand by here,” Skywalker said. “No matter what the Chairman thinks, we’re _not_ going to war.”

“Yes, sir.”

_ _ _

Ahsoka had barely disembarked from her position as a passenger in Fives’ speeder when Chairman Cho has already started giving orders.

“Captain, put your men on that ice ridge,” he said, pointing. “We will attack as soon as the savages arrive.”

Ahsoka smirked as Rex looked down and shook his head; he was clearly just as exasperated as the rest of them.

“There will be no attack, Chairman,” Master Kenobi asserted, his voice harsh.

“You will do as I command. This planet is under _my_ jurisdiction,” said the Chairman, his voice equally as commanding.

“Nothing is under your control, Chairman,” Master Kenobi said, barely looking at him. “The Talz are already here.”

Ahsoka glanced around. Sure enough, large, furry creatures that must be the Talz appeared over the snow hills nearby, riding large, canine creatures and carrying spears. She had felt them appear not long after they’d left the outpost, just as the other two Jedi must have.

“Their scouts have been following us for some time,” Anakin said, striding forward with Ahsoka trailing after him.

“It seems Thi-Sen doesn’t trust you any more than you trust him.”

Ahsoka was gratified to see that the Chairman looked absolutely shocked upon seeing several Talz erupt from the deep snow nearby, growling dangerously. Rex and his men took up a defensive stance around the speeders, blasters raised and fingers on triggers.

“Rex,” Anakin said. “Tell your men to stand down. Stay here and don’t do anything to provoke them.”

“Yes, sir.” His voice was steady, but tight. Ahsoka felt the Force around him. He was nervous.

He was smart. And he didn’t want a fight anymore than they did. They’d be okay. Ahsoka turned back and followed her Master, C-3PO, and the Pantorans into what must have been the Separatist base. _Odd choice of meeting grounds._ Then again, it might as well be neutral territory now that the droids had all been taken care of.

Inside, a large group of Talz had taken up residence. Anakin and Master Kenobi stepped forward and bowed before one that wore a necklace of teeth. Ahsoka mimicked them.

“Your Highness,” Master Kenobi said.

“We’ve returned,” Anakin said. “As promised.” Beside him, C-3PO stepped closer and stood beside the Chief, Thi-Sen. The Pantorans lined up behind him as the protocol droid began speaking in what Ahsoka supposed was their language.

“These savages have no rights here,” Chairman Cho muttered as Thi-Sen answered back.

C-3PO turned. “Chieftain Thi-Sen welcomes you to his home and hopes you come in peace,” he translated. “He wishes to be good neighbors, but he does not wish you to remain on his planet.”

The Chairman stepped forward and grasped C-3PO’s shoulder. “Listen, droid,” he said, “translate everything I say and _exactly_ as I say it.”

_Ohhh shit._

Riyo – _Force bless her_ – jumped between the two, grasping the Chairman’s arm. “Would you like me to represent Pantora in this matter?” she pressed.

“Not on your life, Senator.” He brushed her off. “There will be no diplomacy this time.” He pushed past both the young Senator and C-3PO and gestured vehemently at Thi-Sen. “Listen here, you savage, this world belongs to the moon of Pantora. And as the Supreme Chairman and Exalted Ruler of Pantora, you will not command me to leave this planet or do anything else.”

Why was this fool determined to go to war? Wasn’t one bad enough?

Riyo once again put herself in front of the Chairman. “Your Majesty, we _can’t_.”

He pushed her aside and turned to C-3PO. “Droid, tell him.”

“Oh dear . . .” Reluctantly, C-3PO stepped closer to Thi-Sen and began to speak in their language once more. As he spoke, the Talz became more and more agitated.

“I recommend a less confrontational discussion,” Master Kenobi piped up. “The Talz are easily provoked.”

Thi-Sen snarled angrily and began gesturing and vocalizing frantically, making quick, violent hand movements.

“That didn’t go over very well,” Anakin muttered.

“You think?” Ahsoka said, her voice dripping with disdain. Anakin shot her a look and she clamped up.

“Chairman,” Master Kenobi said, “I promised the Talz that we would leave them in peace.”

“This is now an internal affair of Pantora,” Chairman Cho proclaimed.

C-3PO turned to face them once more. “The great Thi-Sen, ‘Son of Suns,’ asks again that you leave or it will mean war.”

The Chairman looked triumphant. “Then war it is.”

C-3PO turned back and translated once more, sounding almost forlorn. Thi-Sen let out a noise like a heavy sigh, then brushed C-3PO aside, stalking out of the droid base and taking all the Talz with him. They were all shaking their round, furry heads and snarling. Through the Force, Ahsoka felt the anger and frustration they were feeling and empathized with them intensely. This whole situation was absurd.

With a heavy heart, she, Anakin, Master Kenobi, and Riyo followed Chairman Cho and the other Pantorans back out into the snow.

Rex met them outside.

“Troopers, mount up and follow me,” Chairman Cho ordered, barely pausing in front of him before moving off toward the speeders.

Nobody moved.

“Er, what’s up, General?” Rex asked Anakin.

“You’re going to have to stay with the Chairman until we can work things out,” he told the clone. “Protect him at all costs.”

Rex nodded.

“This is so stupid!” Ahsoka said, unable to stop herself. “Why do they have to go with him? I thought the Jedi had control over the clone army.”

Master Kenobi looked down at her. “Yes. However, so does the Senate and planetary governments within the Republic, such as the Assembly of Pantora. Chairman Cho has full authority over our troops and does not need our permission to commandeer them.”

Anakin and Master Kenobi turned away.

Rex was about to leave as well when Ahsoka reached out and grabbed his arm. “Rex,” she said. “Don’t hurt the Talz. This was all just a big misunderstanding. No one else needs to die.”

Rex sighed. “Ahsoka –” _He rarely uses my name._ “– I may have to in order to protect the Chairman. I have my orders. And I just can’t choose which orders to follow and not to follow. Even if I don’t like it.”

“But you can try not to kill them.”

“I . . . I _can_ try not to kill them,” Rex said. “But I will not endanger my life or the lives of my men or the Pantorans to that end. I’m sorry.”

She pulled back from him. “Okay,” she said. “I . . . understand.” She didn’t fully. But she could try. Being a Jedi was different than being a clone trooper. She didn’t want her men to die, but she also didn’t want the Talz to die, either.

Rex turned and walked away from her. “Mount up! We’re movin’ out!”

Ahsoka sighed, her breath fanning out before her in a small cloud, and turned back to Anakin and Master Kenobi, who were deep in conversation with Riyo.

“You know a preemptive strike is illegal,” Anakin was saying. “Isn’t there anything you can do to stop him?”

The Senator looked unsure. “I’m afraid not. He has proclaimed this conflict an internal affair.”

Master Kenobi looked thoughtful for a moment, then spoke. “You could petition the Jedi Council for an intervention.”

“You mean . . . without his authorization?”

“There must be someone on your moon who could approve it,” Anakin said.

Riyo thought for a moment, then her face lit up. “The Speaker of the Assembly. He has the power.”

“Let’s get back to the base,” Master Kenobi said. “The storm is letting up; maybe we can get a transmission through.”

They turned to leave and Ahsoka fell into step beside Riyo. “You did good in there.” She nodded back towards the droid outpost. “You tried your best.”

“Yes,” she sighed. “But it was not enough.”

“I don’t think _anything_ could have convinced him otherwise,” Ahsoka said. “He’s, well, crazy.”

“I . . . am starting to believe that myself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to split this episode into 3 parts (plus a 'wrap-up' chapter) because I added a lot to it lol.
> 
> My reasoning for putting Ahsoka in this arc is essentially because I didn't want to write it without her. Plus, I thought it was important to establish her friendship with Riyo, since we never see how they become friends in the show; they have an already established relationship by the time Sphere of Influence rolls around, which I thought was kinda strange and was a missed opportunity.
> 
> Rex's story about Ahsoka getting her head stuck in Zeer's helmet is based on a throwaway line in the one-shot 'At Ease' by @countessofbiscuit  
> (I'm sorry, I'm not quite sure how tagging works)


	23. Innocence

**Orto Plutonia**

Rex sat at the controls of his Freeco bike as it zoomed along above the snow and fumed. He’d sent some of the men back to the outpost, while keeping a token guard behind with him to help guard the Chairman. _Chalk it up to just another reason to despise politicians, I guess. They’re fucking crazy._ Some of the Talz were going to die, there was no way around that, whatever he’d told Ahsoka. Some of his men were going to die, too. Maybe some of the Pantorans.

For nothing at all.

_What are you fighting for this time, Captain?_

_Nothing. Nothing at all. I’m not saving anyone, I’m not protecting any important objective. I’m supposed to follow this Chairman and keep him alive. I might even have to shoot a bunch of two-and-a-half meter tall walking carpets that were capable of slaughtering an entire base of clones. And droids._

So Rex had no motivation other than keeping as many of his boys alive as possible. A powerful motivation, but an often unattainable goal. And he’d have to do it by killing – relatively – innocent creatures.

The group entered a steep canyon, probably the same one that Kenobi and Skywalker had investigated the previous afternoon. That meant they were headed right for the Talz home. _Engaging the enemy on their own turf is never a good idea if you can avoid it_.

Up ahead, he could make out three Talz on those canine beasts they rode, standing in the middle of their path, watching.

“Here they are,” said Chairman Cho over the commlink. “Fire when you’re in range.”

The Talz began to retreat. 

“Sir, with respect, we’re only here to protect you,” Rex replied.

And then, out of nowhere, they were surrounded. The Talz were on the ice ridges above them, closing in from in front atop their beasts, and emerging from snow drifts where they had been concealed. They all held weapons.

“Ambush!” Rex barked.

“It’s a trap, kill them!” Chairman Cho shouted.

Rex felt awful for his men on BARC speeders; they were the most exposed. As the Talz rode towards them, evading blaster fire from their bikes, Rex saw several troopers get knocked off their rides by clubs swung that caught them in their heads and chests. Probably fatal blows. Rex glanced behind him to see one empty BARC speeder shoot upwards into the cliff wall and explode, its driver nowhere to be seen.

He turned back forward only to see the face of one of those beasts the Talz rode taking up his entire canopy, snarling and biting at the transparasteel. It began cracking under the pressure. Without a second thought, Rex hit the eject and the canopy popped open. He jumped out of the driver’s seat and into the air. He hit the snow and slid for a few meters, his bike turning and sliding to a halt as well with no one to steer or give it power. The Talz and its mount still sat atop the canopy.

Rex sprinted forward, reaching back and pulling out his twin DC-15s. He opened fire on the enemy, striking the beast several times in the head and neck and hitting the Talz in the shoulder. Both fell, and Rex reached his speeder, kicking it over and crouching behind it for cover.

Around him, the speeders of his remaining men slid to a halt.

“We’re surrounded,” Rex said. “Defensive formation!”

His men parked their speeders in a loose circle around him, disembarking and reaching for their blasters before taking cover. Spears thrown from every which way thudded into the snow in random locations. He fired his sidearms randomly, only aiming in the general direction of the enemy. They were so hard to see at range that he wasn’t sure he was actually hitting anything, but either way he was providing cover and making it harder for them to charge out into the open and get close enough to do any more damage.

“Chairman, get down!” Rex turned to see one of the Pantorans ushering Chairman Cho out of the way just before a Talz jumped over their makeshift barricade and sliced him open from shoulder to pelvis with a wicked-looking spear. The man fell back against the Chairman, who caught the body and fell to the ground. Rex shifted his aim and was about to fire when the Chairman’s only other guard put half a clip into the creature, killing it instantly.

“We’re in trouble, sir,” said Fives on Rex’s right.

“We are,” said Echo to the left. “I can barely see these guys through the snow!”

A trooper further down the line cried out in pain as a spear impaled his upper chest and fell back, blood spraying out from his white armor.

“We’ve got to hold out!” Rex said. There was nothing else they _could do_.

The Talz were getting bold. There were so many of them, while there were less than twenty clones. They began charging once more on their canine mounts. Rex stood up to get a better aim, firing with both his pistols; first with one, then with both as they got closer in closer. He hit the beasts, sending them tumbling and their riders flying into the air.

The last one his killed was too close, rolling forward and hitting the speeder in front of him, breaking their defensive line.

“Fall back!” he bellowed. “First squad, cover the retreat!”

“Retreat?” Suddenly the Chairman was beside him. “We can’t retreat from these animals.”

Rex ignored him and darted off to get one of the still functioning BARC speeders running. He hopped aboard and started the engine, turning back to the Chairman.

Suddenly a spear appeared in the back of the Chairman’s other Pantoran guard. He went down. More blood. And then another was protruding from the Chairman’s left shoulder blade.

_Shit._

He hit the snow, still moving.

“S-Savages . . .” he groaned feebly.

A Talz vaulted over one of the remaining speeders, raising a club high over its head, ready to bring down the finishing blow upon the Chairman’s head. Rex considered letting it happen.

_I can’t just choose which orders to follow and not to follow._

Rex gunned the engine, sending his speeder careening into the Talz, sending it flying before jumping off and dashing toward the barely moving Chairman, his blasters raised and firing at the Talz now approaching. He had no choice but to kill them now.

One in the front.

One to his left as a spear thudded into the snow behind him.

One to his right that was dashing forward with a spear.

One that tried to sneak up behind him.

Holstering one of his pistols, Rex knelt over the Chairman and hauled him onto his shoulder with one hand. Then, he sprinted over to a working BARC speeder, draped the Pantoran unceremoniously over the front, leapt into the driver’s seat and took off.

“Go! Move out!” he bellowed into the commlink.

They had to keep moving. Maybe at the other end of the canyon was a way out. His troopers all kicked their speeders into gear and took off. It was only seconds before something off to the right let out a loud roar and Rex saw more Talz on beasts bolt into their path via a steep slope.

“Here they come!” Rex warned, even as one of the things clubbed two troopers side-by-side, knocking them off their speeders and into the snow. “Go faster!” The speeders kicked into high gear and they began outdistancing the canines. The canyon suddenly came to an end and they were ascending up a slope; onto another flat plane.

Then the two Freeco bikes ahead of Rex disappeared.

They’d tried to cross some sort of ice bridge over a chasm that stretched further than he could see on either side. Rex brought his bike to a skidding halt and disembarked, glancing down into the chasm, realized they’d never survive a fall, and ran back around, waving his remaining men over.

There were seven left. Fives, Echo, Kano, Oz, Ross, Ringo, and Joc. They all parked their speeders at lightning speed and disembarked, grabbing their weapons as they looked to Rex for instruction. He began using hand signals, pointing this way and that. He knew they understood, but he spoke over the comm channel as well, just to be certain.

“Echo, Fives: left flank. Oz, Ringo: right flank. Everyone else, hold the middle. We hold here for as long as possible.”

“Yes, sir!”

Everyone took cover behind their speeders and raised their rifles over the tops, firing at the oncoming Talz as soon as they became visible through the snow. Rex grabbed Chairman Cho and dragged him off his speeder, leaning him as gently as he could against it. He was still breathing. Was he going to make it? Rex found he didn’t care. A spear thudded into the snow just behind him and he gritted his teeth; there was still fighting to be done.

He stood, reaching back and pulling out both his sidearms one more time. He strode forward, firing both weapons at the oncoming onslaught as his men did the same around him. A spear whizzed past Rex’s right shoulder so close it battered painfully across his pauldron, but he barely paused, firing round after round at the enemy that came ever closer.

Talz after Talz fell, but there were just _so many_. Some fell off beasts as Rex and his men hit their mounts, others were killed outright by shots to the chest or head. Rex felt remorse, but all he could really do was keep shooting.

_Us or them. That’s no choice at all._

Then Rex heard a sound that almost made him weep with joy: larties.

_ _ _

Ahsoka stood next to Riyo as the gunship flew through the air. It was strange having someone else around that was just as short as she was compared to the clones and other Jedi she usually flew with. Minutes ago, they’d received confirmation from the Speaker of the Pantoran Assembly that they had come to the conclusion that Chairman Cho was acting wholly out of line and given the Jedi and the young Senator full reign to negotiate peace with the Talz.

Now they just needed to reach Rex and the others before things really went wrong.

The pilots had honed in on the clone captain’s locator beacon and were taking them to his location now. Ahsoka tried not to be nervous. Rex could handle anything. _He’ll be okay_.

“Senator,” Master Kenobi said, “now that you have the authority, how do you plan on making peace with the Talz?”

Riyo looked surprised at his question. “Actually, Master Jedi, since you’re far more experienced, I was hoping you could negotiate peace on Pantora’s behalf.”

There was a moment of silence. Anakin and Master Kenobi glanced at each other. “I’m afraid that’s not possible, Senator.”

Riyo deflated.” But I don’t understand,” she said. “The Jedi serve the Senate. I’m afraid I must order you to –”

“Senator, it is _your people_ the Talz are at war with,” Master Kenobi cut her off. “If the violence is to stop, it is you who must represent your people.” He had a point there, Ahsoka had to admit. She still felt bad that she had to leave this all up to her new friend. Still, responsibilities like this were a part of both of their jobs.

“Hey,” she said, placing a hand on Riyo’s shoulder, “I’m sure you’ll do great.”

“I hope so,” she whispered.

The rest of the flight passed in a tense silence. It was not long before the pilot came in over the passenger bay’s speakers. “We’ve got eyes on the Captain and his forces, sir. They’re backed up against a cliff face and surrounded by the Talz; we’re coming in for a landing now.”

“Copy that, Jinx,” Anakin acknowledged.

Ahsoka felt the gunship descending and braced herself for what she would find when the doors opened. If Rex and his men had been forced onto a cliff edge, they probably had been pursued for some time and lost a lot of men. _How had things gotten so bad?_

The doors slid open and Del led his men out onto the snow, blasters raised and pointed at the Talz on the snow planes just across from them. None of them moved; they simply stood at a distance, all on their mounts, and waited, spears and clubs clutched tightly in their hands. Ahsoka saw several of the creatures lying dead or wounded in the snow around them.

_Oh, no . . ._

Master Kenobi and Anakin exited the gunship, followed by R2-D2 and C-3PO. Riyo and Ahsoka followed after the former received a reassuring nudge from her. They crossed the snow to Rex’s position. It didn’t look good. Rex and seven clones were all that was left of the seventeen that had gone out to accompany the Chairman and his men. They’d parked their speeders in a defensive position in a semi-circle around the cliff face and were using them as cover to hide against while they set their rifles over the top and peered out toward the Talz. Rex himself was standing over the slumped form of Chairman Cho, his fists clenched tightly. Ahsoka could feel his rage through the force; it was so powerful it almost took her breath away.

Upon seeing their arrival, Rex turned to regard them, still standing over Chairman Cho, who seemed to be bleeding heavily from a wound on his back. Ahsoka couldn’t help but notice a long gash along Rex’s right pauldron. “Good to see you, sir,” he said, his voice deceptively steady.

“You okay, Rex?” Anakin said. Ahsoka knew he saw the injury as well.

“Eh, it’s just a scratch.” He brushed off the pauldron, not even flinching.

“What’s going on?”

Rex sighed. “We’re in quite a mess, sir. Eleven dead, the rest wounded. Including the Chairman.”

As Ahsoka watched Coric, Kix, and Boro rush over from the other gunships to begin assessing the wounded men, Riyo knelt in front of the injured Pantoran and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Chairman, can you hear me?”

He looked up. “Senator, good.” He grabbed her shoulder. His breaths came out in short pants. “You must – avenge me. As my final command – as Chairman of Pantora, I order you to destroy the Talz.”

Ahsoka bared her teeth. Maybe this was what he wanted all along. To provoke a fight and go out in what he perceived as a blaze of glory. It was pathetic.

“I’m afraid I cannot do that, Chairman,” said Riyo, gracious as ever. “The Pantoran Assembly has called you out of order. I am to negotiate peace.”

“No,” _former_ Chairman Cho gasped, “impossible. Peace? _Never_ . . . I died for our p-people.” And with that, he gave a last gasp and slumped against Rex’s overturned speeder, his eyes wide open, staring at nothing.

Across the snow plane, the Talz gave out a long roar. Did they know their enemy was dead? If they did, they did not move. Tensions were still high, and it was all up to Riyo to fix things.

“Senator,” Master Kenobi said, gently, “now is the time.” She didn’t move for a moment. Then, the girl reached down and plucked the Chairman’s blue helmet off his head and grabbed a spear that had sunken into the snow not too far away.

“Protocol droid,” she said, her voice hard and steady, “come with me.”

C-3PO looked somewhat startled and hesitated for a moment. Anakin tapped him on the back. “Threepio, get going.”

“Yes, Master Ani.”

_Ani?_ That _sounded strange._

Ahsoka wondered where he picked up _that_ nickname. She’d never heard anybody call her Master that.

A question for another time.

C-3PO followed Riyo as she strode across the snow plane, head held high, shoulders squared. _You go, girl._ Ahsoka slipped over to Rex’s side. He stood beside the former Chairman’s corpse, just watching. Ahsoka couldn’t see his expression, but he still felt keyed-up. She supposed he had a right to be; this could still all go south in the blink of an eye and they’d have to fight again.

Still, she had faith in Riyo to be able to get them through this.

“Rex . . . Er, how many Talz did you have to . . .” She wasn’t sure she really wanted to know, but she asked him not to, so she had to bring it up.

“Ten,” Rex said. “I think. I . . . I did try, Ahsoka. I aimed for their beasts when I could, but it wasn’t always possible.”

“I understand,” she said. “I’m sorry about your men.”

“Me too.” Rex said. “They died for nothing.” His mind was a maelstrom of bitter thoughts.

Ahsoka set a hand on his arm. “If Riyo can broker a peace, then it won’t be totally for nothing.”

“I hope so,” Rex said.

Ahsoka looked up. Riyo and C-3PO stopped in the middle of the plane, Thi-Sen disembarked from his mount and strode out to meet them, still clutching his spear, but not attacking. She held her breath. Riyo muttered something unintelligible to C-3PO, then raised her spear high over her head. Then, she drove it down into the snow, point down.

Her voice carried over the distance. “To die for one’s people is a great sacrifice,” she set Cho’s helmet atop the spear, much like the Talz had set clone helmets on pikes within the base. “To live for one’s people, an even greater sacrifice. I chose to live for my people. What do you choose?”

C-3PO began translating for her. Thi-Sen simply watched and listened. Then he gestured wildly, holding his own spear over his head. Ahsoka flinched, her grip instantly going to her lightsaber. Did he accept Riyo’s request for peace? Or was he going to strike her down? Her questions were mercifully answered when the Talz Chieftain plunged his spear into the snow, crossing the shaft with Riyo’s, it’s point sticking upwards in the air.

“He chooses to live as well!” C-3PO said.

Ahsoka’s shoulder sagged with relief. She had done it. “We will leave Orto Plutonia under the watchful eyes of the Talz from this day forth,” Riyo announced, “and recognize your sovereignty as a free and equal people.”

Thi-Sen paused. Then, he sunk into a low bow. Riyo mimicked him. All the rest of the Talz followed their lead, their mounts even sinking to their knees as well. Then, he turned and returned to his beast, climbing astride it and leading his people back into the snow. Riyo turned back and walked back toward Ahsoka and the others, a triumphant smile on her face, C-3PO following close behind.

Upon her return, Ahsoka rushed forward and wrapped her in a tight hug. “I knew you could do it!”

Riyo laughed. “I’m glad you had so much faith in me. I wasn’t so sure myself.”

“Well done, Senator,” Master Kenobi said, suddenly beside her with Anakin. Rex had wandered off and was busy directing his remaining men to load their speeders onto the gunships. They were leaving soon. They had no more business here.

“Yes,” Anakin said. “Most impressive.”

“Thank you, Master Jedi,” Riyo said.

“Now that you have created peace between your people and the Talz,” Kenobi said, leading them over toward one of the gunships, “Remember one crucial thing.”

“Yes, Master Kenobi?”

“Make it last, Senator,” Kenobi said. “Make it last. And be an example to others so no only this war, but every war waged may come to an end as well.”

“I will,” Riyo said, her jaw set. “I promise you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The numbers of the clone forces was a little tricky, but I stayed as close to the script as possible. You can see 20 speeders at the beginning of the battle (3 are Pantorans, so that means there's 17 clones). Later, Rex says that there's 11 dead. Assuming he's including the Pantorans, that should leave us with 9 remaining: Rex, Cho, and 7 clones. However, in the episode you can see there's only 4 other clones left, plus one that died that Riyo steps over even though he just appears out of thin air. I just decided to stick to the script and not the animation.
> 
> Only one more chapter in Year 1!
> 
> I've actually been working on Year 2 for some time now, I'm currently a little over halfway writing the Geonosis 2 arc, so we'll see how long it takes me to get it completed.


	24. In the Cold

**The _Resolute_ , over Orto Plutonia**

Ahsoka had pulled her hood down and removed the thick winter gloves she had been wearing since before touching down on Orto Plutonia.

She stood in the hanger bay and watched as Rex supervised the unloading of the twelve stretchers. Twelve men dead: three Pantorans, nine clones. After what was originally supposed to be just a routine investigation mission. After they had evacuated Rex and the rest of his unit, the gunships had gone back and retrieved the bodies of the troopers that had fallen while fighting the Talz. Republic policy.

Rex stood by, just watching, his arms folded over his chestplate. He hadn’t allowed any of the medics to take a look at his shoulder yet, nor had he changed out of his cold assault gear. He just watched.

“Is . . . he going to be alright?”

Ahsoka turned to see Riyo standing next to her. The Pantoran girl had removed her thick poncho and held the rich fabric folded in her arms. She stared over at the clone captain; concern written all over her soft features. Ahsoka’s affection for her was growing by the minute.

“Rex is always fine,” she said. “At the end of the day, at least. Right now . . . I dunno.”

“I should apologize to him,” said Riyo. “It’s because of my people that his men were killed.”

“I hope you don’t blame yourself for that.”

“I . . . did not have it in me to stand up to Chair – er – the _former_ Chairman Cho,” Riyo fretted. “Perhaps if I had said something more, done something more, all this could have been avoided.” She gestured sullenly toward the stretchers bearing the dead. More clones had appeared and were removing the bodies. “It took me too long to realize that Cho was lost. I’m sure I should have acted against him sooner.”

“Hey,” Ahsoka said, “someone very important to me once said that experience outranks everything. This is just one of those times where you didn’t have the experience to know what you should do, and the person you were supposed to be following was in the wrong. In the end, you made the right choice and you learned what you should do in the future. That’s all you can really do. Live and learn.” She looked over at Rex, a small smile touching her lips.

Riyo followed her gaze. “ _Ah_. I see.” She smirked. “I still believe I should say something.”

“Be my guest; he doesn’t bite. Well, not unless you’re a shiny.”

“A what?”

“I’ll tell you some other time.”

The two girls approached Rex, who was now in conversation with Ross. The other clone, his snow helmet under one arm, handed Rex a datapad, looking down at it and frowning. Upon seeing Ahsoka and Riyo approaching, Ross nodded, giving them a tight smile, and walked off.

“Whatcha got there, Rex?” Ahsoka asked, drawing even with him.

Rex sat down on a crate behind him and stared at the pad. “Koho and Ridge found Commander Mag and one of his men. They were camped out not far from the base. Killed by Talz. This is . . .” he cleared his throat. “It looks like one of his men was sending letters to his hatchmate.”

“Oh . . .”

Rex read off one of the files. “I know you’re not much for letters, Flanker, but writing them relaxes me. Remember how you used to joke that after all that desert training, one of us would get shipped to a water planet? Well, have I got a punchline for you . . .”

“Maybe you should find Flanker,” Ahsoka said. “Maybe he’d appreciate the letters now.”

“Maybe . . .” Rex said. “But I think I already met him. There was a _vod_ named Flanker in Cody’s battalion on Christophsis. Took the brunt of shrapnel from an exploding droid. Saved Waxer’s life. He didn’t make it.”

“So, they’re both gone now,” muttered Riyo sadly.

“Yeah.” Rex set the ‘pad behind him.

Ahsoka sat down next to Rex, setting a comforting hand on his uninjured shoulder. “Hey, you okay?”

He looked up, quickly glancing between Ahsoka and Riyo.

“It won’t be an issue, ma’am,” he said.

“Rex, stop it,” Ahsoka said, shaking him a little. “Consider this ‘off the record.’”

Rex didn’t say anything.

“Captain,” Riyo said, her hands folded in front of her, “I wanted to apologize.”

That got his attention. He straightened a bit, looking up at the Senator. “Apologize, ma’am?”

“For the situation you and your men were forced into,” said Riyo. “It was not fair for you to be dragged into the conflict that Chi Cho engineered. On behalf of the people of Pantora, I offer you my sincerest apologies.”

Rex reached up and removed his helmet, resting it on his thigh. “Thank you, ma’am,” he said, meeting her gaze. “I appreciate the sentiment.”

“I only wish I could do more . . .”

“You see much of the Coruscant Guard?”

“Er, yes. Why?”

“Treat them as you’ve treated my men, and I’ll consider the debt repaid. Know their names, talk to them, let them know they’re human.”

Ahsoka beamed at Rex. He really was one of a kind, clone or not.

Riyo’s blue face split into a smile. “Yes, I shall indeed endeavor to do that, Captain.” She gave a small bow. “I believe you two have things to discuss that you would prefer kept private. I shall excuse myself.” She glanced at Ahsoka. “Ahsoka, I’ll leave my comm frequency with Master Skywalker. Do contact me the next time you’re on Coruscant; I believe you and I could be good friends.”

Ahsoka nodded. “Sure thing. I’ll see you soon.”

“Thank you.” She looked at Rex. “For everything.” And then, with a parting wave, she turned and walked off down the hanger, headed toward the exit lift.

“You were right about her,” Rex commented. “She’s got a good head on her shoulders.”

“Yeah,” Ahsoka said. She looked at him, but he wasn’t watching her. “So do you.”

The clone sighed, looking down toward the ground. “I’m trying.”

“What’s wrong, Rex?”

He was silent for a moment. “You remember that conversation Cody and I had after Teth, right? The one you eavesdropped on?”

Ahsoka let out a small laugh that she quickly stifled. That was a long time ago. “Yeah.”

“He told me that when I was fighting for something I didn’t know anything about – some ‘greater’ goal the Republic had that I didn’t understand – I should try and find something that _I_ wanted to fight for. Something personal to me. Something permanent.”

“Right,” Ahsoka nodded, remembering. “And he said he fought for Master Kenobi.”

“Yeah,” Rex gave a little chortle. It was short-lived. “Yeah he did.”

“And . . .?”

“And I went out there today with nothing to fight for,” Rex said. “I went out there and I shot a bunch of sentient creatures that just wanted to be left alone. On the say-so of some jumped-up, crazy _politician_ who wound up getting himself killed. I didn’t feel so bad about it at the time because I was trying to keep myself and my men alive, but now . . . I dunno. It’s not sitting well with me.”

Ahsoka’s heart ached for him. He really had been given a raw deal this time around and not once had he kicked up a stink. He’d only been doing his duty. None of this was his fault, but he clearly felt he should shoulder some of the burden of responsibility.

“Rex,” she said, moving her hand from his shoulder to his backplate, right in between the armor and the backpack attached to it. She wasn’t sure he could really feel it, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. “None of that was your fault. I shouldn’t have asked you not to kill the Talz. I knew you probably wouldn’t have a choice if it came down to it.”

Rex shrugged. “That’s just your prerogative. I agree with you, but I still had to do it. All due respect, ma’am, but you’re a Jedi. I’m a clone. I’m pretty sure the only way our life philosophies could be any more different is if one of us was a Sith.”

Ahsoka laughed. That was a pretty absurd thought. “I guess you’re right about that. What would your name be? _Darth Rexter?_ I think I’d be something like Darth . . . I dunno, Darth Snips?”

Rex snorted, then glanced around. “Don’t let General Kenobi hear you joking about that,” he muttered. “I don’t think he’d find it very amusing. Or General Skywalker for that matter.”

“Oh, it’ll be fine,” Ahsoka said, waving him off. “I know where to draw the line. Usually. Besides, I won’t get in trouble. They’ll just use it as a ‘teachable moment.’ I’m only a Padawan, after all. I can’t _possibly_ know _everything_ about how serious the Dark Side is and how it’s no laughing matter.” She shifted a third time, leaning her arm on Rex’s shoulder and resting her chin on it, giving him her best ‘look-at-me-I’m-so-innocent’ look with wide eyes and a slightly protruding lip.

He glanced at her, one eyebrow raised, not saying anything for a few moments. Then he smiled and looked away, shaking his head good-naturedly. “You give that look all you want; you’ll get into trouble one day, mark my words.”

“If I do,” Ahsoka said, lifting her head up, “I expect you or Skyguy to help get me out of it.”

“I would,” Rex said, almost automatically. “Absolutely.”

And Ahsoka believed him. They’d been through too much together not to trust one another one hundred percent. There was no one else she’d rather have by her side at all times. Then, a thought struck her. It wasn’t very Jedi-like, but it was for Rex. So – as Charger would say – fuck it.

She stood. “Rex? You still in the market for something to fight for?”

He snorted, looking up at her. “I’m open to suggestions.”

She put her hands on her hips and winked at him. “How about you fight for me?”

Her words had the desired effect.

Rex suddenly turned red. He coughed, holding one fist up to his mouth. “For, er, _you_ , ma’am?”

She laughed. “You’re not gonna ‘ma’am’ your way outta this one, Rexter,” she said. “Yes. Me. I’d say I’m around you often enough to be pretty tangible. Besides, I’m supposed to have my whole future ahead of me; what’s a better motivation than that? You’re fighting for me and my future. That’s pretty gallant, dontcha think?”

Rex wouldn’t meet her eyes, probably because he knew she was smirking at him.

“Mm. Yeah . . . I suppose.”

“Just think about it, why don’t you?” she said. Satisfied that, one way or another, she’d made him feel at least a little better, she turned and walked off. “See ya later, Rexter,” she called over her shoulder.

She wouldn’t have heard what he said next if not for the sensitive hearing her montrals granted her.

“Fight for her?” he muttered. “Yeah . . . Maybe . . .”

She grinned to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn't super long since it's just wrap-up, but I think it closes out Rex's and Ahsoka's year 1 arc pretty well. Riyo's actually pretty important to things that happen later down the line, so watch out for her later. Which bits are foreshadowing and which bits are just banter? I'll let you be the judge of that ;)
> 
> So yeah, there's Ahsoka on Orto Plutonia. What will I do next? Ahsoka on Kamino or the Coronet? Rex on Mortis? Only time will tell.
> 
> This was something like a 231 page document in Word, and Year 2 is shaping up to be even longer since it's a full year. You'll notice that - outside of the Teth arc - I didn't really kill off any characters central to the story. That's because I figured it would be too soon after their introduction to kill off any characters and have it be meaningful. The bodies are hitting the floor in the next one, I promise.


	25. In Memoriam

**In Memoriam: 22BBY**

Jedi Coleman Trebor: Killed by Jango Fett on Geonosis

Jedi Tan Yuster: Killed on Geonosis

Jedi Ur-Sema Du: Killed on Geonosis by General Grevious

Plus some hundred-or-so more Jedi on Geonosis

4,982 clone commandos killed on Geonosis

Thousands of clones killed on Geonosis.

Jedi Neebo: killed by Grievous at an unknown place and time

Jedi Kast Fulier: killed by Ghez Hokan with his own lightsaber on Qiilura

Jedi Daakman Barrek: killed by Grievous on Hypori

Jedi Tarr Seirr: killed by Grievous on Hypori

Jedi Sha'a Gi: crushed by Grievous on Hypori

CT-????/ Flanker: killed on Christophsis by an exploding droid

CT-1450/ Lunn: killed on Teth. Shot once in the abdomen, then in the head.

CT-????/ Cato: severely wounded when the cabin of his AT-TE was destroyed. Died of his injuries on Teth.

CT-7082/ Ged: killed on Teth.

CT-4400/ Sergeant Hez: all but disintegrated by dwarf spider droids on Teth

CT-7061/ Ayar: decapitated by shrapnel from a droid on Teth

CT-2875/Vaize: killed by a super battle droid on Teth

Entirety of Torrent Company lost on Teth

Jedi Ima-Gun Di: killed on Ryloth defending Twi’lek rebels

CT-7396/ Captain Keeli: killed on Ryloth defending Twi’lek rebels, along with his entire unit

Jedi Laan Tik: killed on Mimban

CT-3889/Ince: wounded and dies due to injuries on JanFathal. Only deployed 8 days.

CT-7650/Vere: killed by a thermal detonator on JanFathal

Jedi Ares Nune: killed by the _Malevolence_

CT-????/ Commander Kite: killed by the _Malevolence_

Entirety of the 104th Battalion killed by the _Malevolence_ (save 3)

CT-????/ Matchstick: killed when his stabilizer gave out, near the Kaliida Nebula

CT-????/ Tag: killed when Matchstick’s Y-wing crashed into him, near the Kaliida Nebula.

CT-0327/ Sentry: killed by commando droids on the Rishi Moon

CT-2010/ Droidbait: killed by commando droids on the Rishi Moon

CT-8776/ Nub: killed by commando droids on the Rishi Moon

CT-7409/ Sergeant O’Niner: killed by commando droids on the Rishi Moon

CT-4040/Cutup: devoured by a Rishi eel on the Rishi Moon

CT-0782/ Hevy: sacrificed himself on the Rishi Moon

CT-????/ Bail: killed with a deflected blaster bolt by General Grievous on Skytop Station.

CS-5718/ Sergeant “Green Leader”: killed by super battle droids aboard the _Tranquility_

At least 10 Padawan braids discovered by Kit Fisto, Nadar Veb, and Commander Fil in Grievous' lair

CT-3715/ Niner: blown up by magna guards on Vassek 3

CT-3716/ Bel: blown up by magna guards on Vassek 3

CT-3714/ Commander Fil: killed by Gor on Vassek 3

Jedi Nadar Veb: killed by General Grievous on Vassek 3

Jedi Ronhar Kim: killed on Merson

Jedi Padawan Tap-Nar-Pal: killed on Merson

CC-1015/ Commander Dox: killed on Merson along with his entire unit.

Jedi Kaim: shot in the head by terrorists on Coruscant. His body was destroyed by an explosive

CT-6209/ Mack: killed after his shuttle crashes after being shot down by pirates over Florrum

CT-3841/ Cameron: killed by a Mastiff phalone on Maridun

CT-1118/ Lucky: killed by a Mastiff phalone on Maridun

CT-2970/ Flesh: killed by a Mastiff phalone on Maridun

CT-????/ Commander Mag: killed by Talz on Orto Plutonia

CT-????/ Shiv: killed by Talz on Orto Plutonia. Wrote letters to the dead Flanker, his hatchmate.

CT-????/Sten: killed by droids on Khorm

CT-????/Jark: killed in an ambush by Asajj Ventress and commando droids on Khorm

CT-????/Blunt: killed in an ambush by Asajj Ventress and commando droids on Khorm

CT-????/Deadeye: killed in an ambush by Asajj Ventress and commando droids on Khorm

CT-????/Captain Sharp: Sacrificed himself on Khorm to take out enemy artillery

All chapter names taken from the soundtrack of The Last of Us Vol 1 & 2 aside from:

1) The Wrong Foot - Original Title

2) Alma – Gustavo Santaolalla

3) Ascension – Mac Miller

11) Faith – The Weeknd 

13) More than His Share – Halo 3: ODST

14) The Package – Halo: Reach

15) Separate and Ever Deadly – The Last Shadow Puppets

24) In the Cold – The Drums

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lil something extra. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but as far as I can tell, all notable deaths (to this story, at least) are on here.
> 
> Ending this story with over 3,000 hits is pretty rad, so thank you all for that and for your interest in this series! I'll try and get to work on the next one ASAP!
> 
> Year 1 Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5IcL4QTBJZoG0D3csmNvnB?si=WxbNvqzbR8a2b8CFLenzgQ  
> (There aren't too many standouts, as it was before I really got the hang of matching names and songs, but there's some good stuff in there)


End file.
